Possibility of Philosophy

The Possibility of Philosophy presents the notes that Maurice Merleau Ponty prepared for three courses he taught at the College de France: "e;The Possibility of Philosophy Today,"e; given in the spring semester of 1959, and "e;Cartesian Ontology and Ontology Today"e; and "e;Philosophy and Nonphilosophy since Hegel,"e; both given in the spring semester of 1961. The last two courses remain incomplete due to Merleau-Ponty's unexpected death on May 3, 1961. Nonetheless, they provide indications of the new ontology that informed The Visible and the Invisible, a posthumously published work that was under way at the same time. These courses offer readers of Merleau Ponty's late thought a wealth of references-to painting, literature, and psychoanalysis, and to the works of Husserl, Heidegger, Descartes, Hegel, and Marx-that fill in some of the missing pieces of The Visible and the Invisible, especially its often terse and sometimes cryptic working notes. We see more clearly how Merleau-Ponty's attempt to bring forth a new ontology indicates a fundamental revision in what it means to think, an attempt to reimagine the possibility of philosophy.