ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author presents Merleau-Ponty's development of body phenomenology and explores how this contributes to the language of the embodied soul. The author will focus on Merleau-Ponty's descriptions of the impact of the body on perception and attention, where he argues that objects do not passively wait to be apprehended through the process of a person actively perceiving them, but that the physicality of both subject and object has an effect on the perception. These ideas build upon the previous chapters, providing examples of the complexity of using metaphors of layers, or mansions, of the human being, the importance of including relationship, and also open the way for the next chapter on the dialogic work of Bakhtin. Merleau-Ponty's work ensures that the language of the soul does not become too ‘ethereal’, but rather remains grounded and allows for a consideration of the ‘embodied’ soul. Implications for concern for the environment are also presented, which resonate with descriptions of ‘World soul’ (nous) discussed in earlier chapters.
