Through accessible analyses of Merleau-Ponty's views of linguistic expression and understanding, and by tracing the evolution of these views throughout the course of his philosophical career, Merleau-Ponty's Phenomenology of Language offers a comprehensive picture of his engagement with the philosophy of language.

• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• A Note on Abbreviations and Texts
• Introduction
  • Notes
• Part I
  • 1 Structure and Language
    • 1. Behaviour, Meaning and Structure
    • 2. Description, Sense and Signification
    • 3. Structure and Expression
    • 4. Unresolved Questions
    • Notes
  • 2 Empirical Expression
    • 1. Schneider’s Linguistic Capacities
    • 2. Merleau-Ponty’s Hermeneutic Account of Linguistic Expression
      • 2.1 Sedimentation
      • 2.2 Gesture
      • 2.3 Meaning and Interpretation
    • 3. Authentic Expression
    • 4. Authentic Language and Freedom
    • Notes
  • 3 Transcendental Expression
    • 1. Objective Thought
    • 2. Explanatory Openness
    • 3. Transcendental Reflection
      • 3.1 Circularity
      • 3.2 ‘Tacit’ and ‘Spoken’ Cogito
    • 4. Language and Foundation
    • 5. ‘Transcendental or Authentic Speech’
    • 6. Description or Creation?
    • Notes
• Part II
  • 4 Scientific and Literary Expression
    • 1. ‘Metaphysics’ or ‘Rationality’ and ‘Expression’
    • 2. Formal Expression
    • 3. Expression in Linguistics: Saussure
      • 3.1 ‘Langue’ and ‘Parole’
      • 3.2 ‘Parole ’ and Dialogue
      • 3.3 ‘Diacritical’ Meaning-Formation
      • 3.4 Institution, Rationality and History
    • 4. ‘Indirect’ or ‘Operant’ Expression: Proust and Valéry
      • 4.1 On Painting and Literature
      • 4.2 Valéry and ‘the Voice’
      • 4.3 Proust and Literary Description
    • 5. Literature, Phenomenology and Metaphysics
    • Notes
  • 5 The Linguistic Foundations of Ontology
    • 1. Ontology, Sense and Intersubjectivity
    • 2. The Implicit Ontological Implications of Dialogue
      • 2.1 Reversibility and Narcissism
      • 2.2 Activity and Passivity
      • 2.3 Intentional ‘Transgression’ and ‘Encroachment’
    • 3. The Explicit Ontological Implications of Dialogue
    • 4. Ontological Expression in the Making
    • Notes
• Part III
  • 6 Language and World
    • 1. Philosophical Predecessors and Potential Influences
      • 1.1 Humboldt’s ‘innere Sprachform’
      • 1.2 Cassirer, Language and Representation
    • 2. Meaning as Cohesion
      • 2.1 The ‘Écart’
      • 2.2 ‘Latent’ Intentionality (‘Flesh’, ‘Reversibility’ and ‘Narcissism’)
      • 2.3 ‘Institution’
    • 3. Articulating the World
      • 3.1 The Intertwining of Speech, Thought and Perception
      • 3.2 ‘Inherent’ and ‘Spoken’ Language
      • 3.3 Expression and World-Formation
    • 4. The Limits of Language and World
    • Notes
  • 7 Ontology and Language
    • 1. ‘Hyper-Reflection’
    • 2. ‘Interrogation’
    • 3. Creative Description
    • 4. Dialectical Expression
    • 5. Concept Invention
    • 6. Language and Essence
    • 7. Philosophy as ‘Operative Language’
    • Notes
• Conclusion
  • Notes
• Bibliography
  • 1. Works by Merleau-Ponty
    • Published Works
    • Unpublished Works
  • 2. Works by Other Authors
• Index
  • Index Nominum
  • Index Rerum
• About the Author