The Ambiguity of Nearness in Heidegger's Ort and Merleau-Ponty's Espace Vécu. Issue 52 (2nd January 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chaudhary, Suraj
• Is Part Of: Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology. Issue 52:Number 1(2021)
• Page Start: 33
• Page End: 47
• Publication Date: 2021-01-02
• Subjects: Space -- place -- nearness -- Heidegger -- Merleau-Ponty; Phenomenology -- Periodicals; Fenomenologie; Filosofie; Phénoménologie -- Périodiques; Phenomenology; Periodicals; 142.7
• DOI: 10.1080/00071773.2020.1743954
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0007-1773

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Phenomenological approaches to space have consistently made a distinction between a plurality of inhabited spaces and the single homogenous extendedness of Euclidean space. Martin Heidegger and Maurice Merleau-Ponty postulate unique spatial wholes pertaining to human life that pose a counterpoint to objective space and provide the necessary context for understanding all our spatial relations. However, the spatial wholes that are posited to clarify these relations are themselves far from univocal. Specifically, differences exist regarding what precisely unites various entities into a meaningful spatial whole and how any such whole relates to others. Showing how Heidegger's idea of Ort and Merleau-Ponty's notion of espace vécu rely on multiple senses of nearness, this paper argues that the privileged sense of nearness in each case fails to delimit the spatial context, thereby putting into question the very possibility of a unified and distinct spatial whole.