Expression and knowledge: language in the Phenomenology of Perception

Abstract

This paper aims to study the philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty's analyses of the language theme in the book Phenomenology of perception. The philosopher departs from the discussion of research related to the psychopathology of language. In those studies, it is affirmed that ill people are limited to a concrete attitude and, therefore, impeded from putting in practice forms of symbolic behavior. Merleau-Ponty adopts a critical attitude towards the intellectualist inspiration that permeates this characterization and extends his criticism to Piaget's genetic psychology. It is with the records of gestures that the philosopher links language, emphasizing its intentional nature.

Merleau-Ponty; language; phenomenology