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“A past which has never been”. Unveiling Merleau-Ponty’s Accountability of the Mythological Heritage of Perception

A Modern nekyia?

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Abstract

This paper focuses on Merleau-Ponty’s interpretation of the mythological account of knowledge as a cumulative source of temporal sedimentation. In the following lines, I argue Merleau-Ponty holds both a negative and, most importantly, a positive opinion concerning what has to be considered as ʻmythicalʼ: all contents of information and reflection referring to an ʻunreflectiveʼ past. Below, in the third paragraph, I summarise the major features the ʻinstitutionalʼ ontology defends: I also highlight the Husserlian influence on Merleau-Ponty’s thought. In the fourth section of this paper, I make a comparison between the most relevant outcomes of the previous paragraphs and Stigler’s conception of tertiary retention: in so doing, I emphasise the unique role the faculty of ʻwritingʼ has in the theory of sedimentation. Finally, I conclude that ʻpastʼ as a traditional, mythical foundation is still of service for showing the way the future shall forward.


Open access

Submitted: Oct. 19, 2021 | Published May 13, 2022 | Language: en

Keywords Response • Activation • Sedimentation • Memory • Myth

Copyright © 2022 Riccardo Valenti. This is an open-access work distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction is permitted, provided that the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. The license allows for commercial use. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

Permalink http://doi.org/10.30687/978-88-6969-588-9/019


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