Merleau-Ponty's political ethics: the problem of humanism

Abstract

In this paper, we try to define some aspects of a political ethics in Merleau-Ponty's phylosophy. It is possible to describe a recurring and structural problem in his political work: the question of «humanism». This problem implies that  the goal  of  any policy  consists  in  the  «institution»  of  a  symbolic  link between human beings. We argue that the problem of humanism structures the political  thought  of  the  philosopher and  explains  Merleau-Ponty's  relation  toMarxism and to history. The courage of the institution, which can be an answer to the problem of humanism, embodies the fondamental political virtue.  A virtue that Merleau-Ponty calls «virtue without any resignation».