Marilena Chaui’s Reading of Merleau-Ponty: From the Critique of Humanism to the Praise of Great Rationalism

Homero Santiago

doi:10.31649/sent44.02.028

Authors

Homero Santiago University of São Paulo (Brazil) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0610-9993

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31649/sent44.02.028

Keywords:

Structuralism, Institution, Constituent Subjectivity, Spinoza, Brazilian Philosophy

Abstract

The intellectual trajectory of Marilena Chaui began with a Master’s thesis on the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty. Successfully defended in 1967, it was Brazil’s very first academic study on the French philosopher, and thus vastly influential on the reception of his unique phenomenology in the country. Our aim is to circumscribe the essence of her reflections on Merleau-Ponty, among which one finds a highly original emphasis on the relationship between his thought and so-called Great Rationalism, the latter being cast in an ambivalent role as both a tradition to be overcome and a source of inspiration for a new ontology.

Author Biography

Homero Santiago, University of São Paulo (Brazil)

Professor

References

Chaui, M. (1967). Maurice Merleau-Ponty e a crítica ao humanismo [Master’s Thesis, University of São Paulo]. Repository of the University of São Paulo. https://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/8/8133/tde-21062023-112954/pt-br.php

Chaui, M. (1970). Introdução à leitura de Espinosa [Doctoral Dissertation, São Paulo, Department of the University of São Paulo]. https://z-library.sk/book/16778205/3b3a4a/introdução-à-leitura-de-espinosa.html

Chaui, M. (2002). Experiência do pensamento: ensaios sobre a obra de Merleau-Ponty. São Paulo: Martins Fontes.

Chaui, M. (2009). Merleau-Ponty e a política. Graduate lecture course taught in the second semester of 2009 at the Philosophy Department of the University of São Paulo. [Unpublished material].

Chaui, M. (2011). Um anacronismo interessante. In A. Martins, L. C. Oliva, & H. Santiago (Eds.), As ilusões do eu: Spinoza e Nietzsche (pp. 323-348). Rio de Janeiro: Civilização Brasileira.

Chaui, M. (2012). Merleau-Ponty: da constituição à instituição. Dois pontos, 9(1), 155-180. https://doi.org/10.5380/dp.v9i1.29097

Chaui, M. (2021). Merleau-Ponty, de “A guerra aconteceu” à “Nota sobre Maquiavel”. Discurso, 51(1), 59-69. https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2318-8863.discurso.2021.188275

Merleau-Ponty, M. (1962). Colloque sur le mot ‘structure.’ In R. Bastide (Ed.), Sens et usages du terme structure dans les sciences humaines et sociales (pp. 153-155). The Hague: Mouton.

Merleau-Ponty, M. (1964a). The Metaphysical in Man. In M. Merleau-Ponty, Sense and Non-Sense (pp. 83-98). (H. L. Dreyfus, P. A. Dreyfus, Trans.). Evanston, IL: Northwestern UP.

Merleau-Ponty, M. (1964b). The Philosopher and His Shadow. In M. Merleau-Ponty, Signs (pp. 159-181). (R. C. McCleary, Trans.). Evanston, IL: Northwestern UP.

Merleau-Ponty, M. (1968). The Visible and the Invisible. (C. Lefort, Ed.; A. Lingis, Trans.). Evanston, IL: Northwestern UP.

Merleau-Ponty, M. (2010). Institution and Passivity: Course Notes from the Collège de France (1954-1955). (L. Lawlor & H. Massey, Trans.). Evanston, IL: Northwestern UP.