Criticism and redemption, Cognitive Sciences meet Phenomenology of Perception

Abstract

In this paper I will consider the reception of Phenomenology of Perception in contemporary Cognitive Sciences. My aim here consists in emphasizing the original understanding of the relationship between science and philosophy offered by Merleau-Ponty in his work. Merleau-Ponty, guided by the Husserlian call “back to the things themselves”, criticizes science conceived as a result of objective thought. In his opinion, science privileges explanation over description and hides under its theoretical constructions the primary validity of lived experience. However, in the merleau-pontyan comprehension of perception science is also involved as a source of material for phenomenological research. Under the light of this presupposition about the role played by science in phenomenological account of experience, my paper re-evaluate two critical lectures addressed against the comprehension of the merleau-pontyan legacy in the Cognitive Sciences research field. The first one is developed by G. B. Madison and his critiques aim at the Logocentrism implied in the Cognitive Sciences understanding of human cognition. The second is sustained by C. Pollard for whom Cognitive Sciences misread the project of Merleau-Ponty ignoring its transcendental goal.