ABSTRACT
Merleau-Ponty’s political philosophy has not yet been the subject of an extended examination. This thesis sets out to provide such an examination. It attempts to describe and critically to elucidate the main political themes to be found in Merleau-Ponty’s writings. In addition, it attempts to show how his political ideas are related to his general phenomenological philosophy and how both his general and his political philosophy altered during the 1950s.
The thesis is divided into three parts. Part One describes the general philosophy developed in the period up until the early 1950s. Part Two discusses the main political themes that Merleau-Ponty developed in the same period. The final part deals with both Merleau-Ponty’s general philosophy and his political philosophy from about 1954 until his death in 1961, showing how they continued to be related even as they both altered.
