抄録
In Phenomenology of Perception, Merleau-Ponty argues that the characteristics of space that we experience are not objectively definable but in fact existential. Among these characteristics, he highlights direction, depth, and movement in particular. Especially, the depth is described as the most existential property. He concludes that the depth, along with the direction, anticipates the vis-à-vis relation between subject and world.
However, the existential characteristics described by Merleau-Ponty are not limited to vis-à-vis. In The Sensible World and the World of Expression, he deepens his insight into movement. In this course notes, he discusses the emergence of a world that coexists with the body.
In this article, I investigate the experienced existential character of space as indicated in Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception and The Sensible World and the World of Expression. This paper makes a fundamental distinction between two aspects of existential spatiality: “vis-à-vis” and “coexistence.” This article helps develop an alternative picture of Merleau-Ponty to challenge the existing picture of him by representing his search for a final understanding of spatiality through an appeal to temporality.
