Merleau-Ponty and the “philosophy of conscience”

Abstract

This paper constitutes the initial presentation of a comprehensive interpretation of Merleau-Ponty's work. It is essentially critical, as we only discuss here the views of Carlos Alberto Ribeiro de Moura and Renaud Barbaras, which, their differences notwithstanding, agree in the diagnosis that Merleau-Ponty brought about a "philosophy of conscience". We intend to point out aspects of their interpretations which strike us as insufficient and partial.