Merleau-Ponty´s Archaelogy: a Descent into Natural Being

Abstract

The natural or wild being that resists being captured by the active operations of the self implies the recognition of a reality opaque and elusive to reflective consciousness, or more precisely, the recognition of an "archaic or primordial consciousness," an "archaeology" or "latent content." In virtue of this, we attempt, first, to show that the archaeological dimension can be elucidated from within phenomenology, insofar as the genetic perspective is already present in the analyses carried out by Husserl regarding passivity. On the other hand, continuing the line of these analyses, Merleau-Ponty will attempt to capture in a "primordial being" that which from the beginning resists reflection. Here we much pay attention to the way in which the French phenomenologist interprets reduction. This leads us to the second point, in which we will analyze resistance to reflection, considering, first of all, natural anonymity as described in the Phenomenology of Perception, and "natural being" as treated in the latest writings. Elucidating natural being will allow us to clarify some analyses on passivity, and, in particular, the interpretation of the unconscious.