Ideas from 'Phenomenology of Perception' by Maurice Merleau-Ponty [1945], by Theme Structure

[found in 'Phenomenology of Perception' by Merleau-Ponty,Maurice (ed/tr Smith,Colin) [Routledge 2002,0-415-27841-4]].

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11. Knowledge Aims / B. Certain Knowledge / 4. The Cogito

21862

Consciousness is based on 'I can', not on 'I think'

			Full Idea: Consciousness is in the first place not a matter of 'I think' but of 'I can'.
			From: Maurice Merleau-Ponty (Phenomenology of Perception [1945], p.159), quoted by Beth Lord - Spinoza's Ethics 2 'Sensation'
			A reaction: The point here (quoted during a discussion of Spinoza) is that you can't leave out the role of the body, which seems correct.

12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 5. Interpretation

20750

The mind does not unite perceptions, because they flow into one another

			Full Idea: I do not have one perception, then another, and between them a link brought about by the mind. Rather, each perspective merges into the other [against a unified background].
			From: Maurice Merleau-Ponty (Phenomenology of Perception [1945], p.329-30), quoted by Kevin Aho - Existentialism: an introduction 3 'Perceptual'
			A reaction: I take this to be another piece of evidence pointing to realism as the best explanation of experience. A problem for Descartes is what unites the sequence of thoughts.