4.1 Article

Misfitting, Breakdowns, and the Normal in Merleau-Ponty

Journal

HUMAN STUDIES
Volume 45, Issue 4, Pages 697-718

Publisher

SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s10746-022-09649-z

Keywords

Merleau-Ponty; Phenomenology; Misfit; Heidegger; Breakdown

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This paper presents the author's interpretation of Merleau-Ponty's concept of normal in Phenomenology of Perception, drawing on the concept of fit and the existential-phenomenological framework. The reframing of the term provides a clear understanding of the hidden methodology and offers the possibility of grounding the concept of fit in an existential-phenomenological conception of the self.
Distinguishing between normal and non-normal cases of perception and motricity is a key part of Merleau-Ponty's methodology in Phenomenology of Perception. Many feminist philosophers and disability scholars have criticized this use of the normal/nonnormal binary and the presumptions behind it. Others have embraced his methodology and noted its consonance with contemporary feminist, disability, and philosophy of race scholarship. In this paper, I present my own interpretation of what Merleau-Ponty means by normal. I draw on Rosemarie Garland-Thomson's concept of fit and also draw attention to the broader existential-phenomenological framework within which Merleau-Ponty is working. This re-framing of the term does two things. First, it provides a clear picture of the hidden methodology at work in Phenomenology of Perception. Second, it offers the possibility of grounding the concept of fit in an existential-phenomenological conception of the self.

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