A path of understanding for psychology

Proposes the path for understanding human existence developed by M. Merleau-Ponty (1962, 1963, 1964, 1968) as a replacement for the paths historically employed by psychology. Descartes established the agenda for modernistic philosophy when he proposed that the task of philosophy is to provide a foundation on which assurances of certain truth can be built. Modernist philosophers diverged, following the paths of sensation (empiricism) and of reason (rationalism). Postmodernists argue that Descartes's agenda was misguided and that there is no foundation for certain knowledge. They set upon the path of language which led them to the dismissal of the human S. Merleau-Ponty explored the path of the lived body in which thought and extension are intertwined, and along which is located the human S in its temporality and embodiment. The path of embodiment is held to be a more fruitful path than the path of language. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)