Between Transcendence and Historicism: The Ethical Nature of the Arts in Hegelian Aesthetics Book

This collection of Merleau-Ponty's lecture notes on three late pieces of Husserl's ('The Origin of Geometry,' 'Foundational Investigations of the Phenomenological Origin of the Spatiality of Nature: The Originary Ark, the Earth, Does Not Move,' 'The World of the Living Present and the Consitution of the Surrounding Wolrd That is Outside the Flesh,' all collected in this volume) offers a fascinating look at the development of Merleau-Ponty's ontology, his conception of ideality, and intersubjectivity. Lawlor and Bergo's translation includes a number of clarificatory notes which help 'fill in' what is missing from the text (due to it being lecture notes) without intruding or imposing an interpretation on the text. Lawlor's introduction and Bergo's afterwards are both fascinating reads as well. Lawlor's introduction argues for the centrality of writing in Merleau-Ponty's (and the late Husserl's) conception of ideality and brings Merleau-Ponty into dialogue with Derrida. Bergo's afterword discusses Merleau-Ponty's conception of phenomenology along with his philosophy's relationship to Husserl and Heidegger and argues that Merleau-Ponty's ontology ends up being not merely a recasting of Husserlian and Heideggerian ideas but something quite novel.