Subjectivity and language in Merleau-Ponty

Abstract

Language, the result of social practice among human beings, is regarded by Psychology as a major element in the study of subjectivity. This article aims at arguing the relevance of this theme on the basis of the work of French philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty. The text is divided into two parts. The first one includes reflections on the body's expressive potency and its relevance to the dissolution of the opposition between res cogitans and res extensa as for the constitution of meaning to words. The second one investigates the relation between phenomenology of language and body expressivity, allowing for understanding why subjectivity and language are rooted in the structure of the being-in-the-world.