The geology of movement. the earth and the dynamic of phenomenalisation in Merleau-Ponty and Patočka

Renato Boccali

pp. 255-261

in: William S. Smith, Jadwiga Smith, Daniela Verducci (eds), Eco-Phenomenology, Berlin, Springer, 2018

Abstract

The overexploitation of the Earth is not merely a question of natural resources management. According to an eco-phenomenological approach, the intertwining between man, environment, and habitat can be conceived in new forms. This paper discusses motivations for such a change of perspective focusing on eco-phenomenology, paying specific attention to the critical reception of Husserl's short manuscript on the Earth (Overthrow of the Copernican Theory in the Usual Interpretation of a World View) by Merleau-Ponty and Patočka. Merleau-Ponty outlines a living geology while Patočka defines the dynamic of the manifestation of appearance as a real "science of movement". In both cases, and thanks to the Husserlian original intuition, we have the opportunity to question the ecosystem of the primordial and topological space that lays the foundations for a phenomenological cosmology.

Cited authors

Merleau-Ponty Maurice

Husserl Edmund

Patočka Jan