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RESEARCH PRODUCT

The Body as the Union of the Psychic and the Physical in Bergson and Merleau-Ponty

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Within the framework of the theme of the First World Congress of Phenomenology “Fifty Years after Husserl: the Legacy of Husserl and Contemporary Phenomenology,” I wish to set forth in this brief article some reflections on the phenomenology of the body in Bergson and Merleau-Ponty. This analysis is not aimed directly at possible similarities and divergences between Bergson and Husserl.1 I have concentrated upon one of their heirs, Merleau-Ponty. I consider that the phenomenological method can throw light on the perennial problem of anthropology: the relationships between the psychic and the physical. On the other hand, as a student of Bergsonian thought, I would like to point out the similarity between Merleau-Ponty’s thought and the philosophy of Bergson. By way of introduction, we could say that in these two philosophers and Husserl a common project stands out: the attempt to overcome Cartesian dualism and the drawing of attention to the role of corporeality in the human constitution.