Philosophy Question

ONLY USE THE DOCUMENT PROVIDED TO YOU AS THEY ARE THE NOTES FROM THE CLASS. IT IS VERY CLEARLY MENTIONED BY THE PROFESSOR THAT GENERATIVE AI WILL ONLY GIVE WRONG DATA ABOUT THEM AS ONLY LIMITED INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE ONLINE AND HE WOULD KNOW IF WE HAVE USED IT OR NOT. THANK YOU

Basic Instructions

You will write an essay on the relation between Merleau-Ponty and another author. You will focus on one of the three following possibilities:

1) explaining each authors position on the same topic;

2) explaining how Merleau-Ponty draws on the other author / criticizes them; or

3) explaining how another author draws on / criticizes Merleau-Ponty.

This assignment is meant to help you understand Merleau-Ponty through another author with whom you are already familiar.

Length: 1000 words (PHIL 310AS)

Preparation

Choose one writer on whom Merleau-Ponty drew, or with whom he had a dialogue.

Using reliable academic sources, read about the two and their connections, and note your sources.

Research

Find a text by Merleau-Ponty where he discusses the other writer. Read this text.

Find the text(s) by the other writer to which Merleau-Ponty refers. Read the passages in those texts.

Answer the following question in one sentence: in these texts, what is their dialogue about?

Draw out the two sides, and see if they are complementary, if one draws on the other, or if they are opposed (or a secret fourth thing).

Ask for help

At any point I can help you find the writer and topic that will make this interesting to you.

You can also look at basic reliable online content written by humans; look at the section about Merleau-Ponty on UR Courses for good starting places.

DO NOT USE GENERATIVE AI FOR THIS! IT WILL LIE TO YOU! Just while I was looking for some of the first names or English versions of names, Google’s summary gave me false information in the first lines that appear without clicking on THREE occasions.

Limits to your choices

This must be an author whose name appears in Merleau-Ponty’s writings. There is no limit to the length of Merleau-Ponty’s text about them (from one mention to a whole chapter). Here is an initial list; please talk to me if you know of others or if you would like to discuss other possibilities. Philosophers are not labeled.

• Aron, Raymond (sociologist)
• Beauvoir, Simone de
• Bukharin, Nikola (Marxist)
• Descartes, Ren

(Would prefer you to write on Descartes, Ren as I have read about him)