Philosophy and Science in Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology Cover Image

Filosofija ir mokslas M. Merleau-Ponty fenomenologijoje
Philosophy and Science in Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology

Author(s): Donatas Večerskis
Subject(s): Epistemology, Contemporary Philosophy, Philosophy of Science, Phenomenology
Published by: Visuomeninė organizacija »LOGOS«
Keywords: Phenomenology; rationality; science; the value of science; Merleau-Ponty;

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with the problem of the relation between phenomenology and science. If we want to understand the position of phenomenologists, we must first pay attention to how they have changed the concept of rationality and the concept of the thing. In such a new light we can see phenomenology as a third position between blind creed in rationality and scepticism vis-à-vis rationality. When Merleau-Ponty examines what scientists say about one or another phenomenon of the world, he looks first for the principle according to which a scientist explains his discovery. Merleau-Ponty discloses that very often this principle is a preconception which is taken from philosophical traditions. An aspiration to discover the true principles of science reveals phenomenology as the activity which grounds the sciences and gives a measure (a claim to correspondence between our experience and our theory) to judge a scientist’s explanation of the discovered phenomena. At the end of the article we can see that, from an ontological point of view, science is (just like philosophy) the light of the world itself. In this light we can see the world as an endless source of experience.

  • Issue Year: 2004
  • Issue No: 37
  • Page Range: 75-81
  • Page Count: 7
  • Language: Lithuanian