Abstract

The present study proposes an investigation into the reasons why Merleau-Ponty recognizes, in Goldstein’s incorporation of the figure-ground notion from the Gestalt Psychology, the convergence between contemporary science and phenomenological philosophy. It is about understanding how, insofar as it reveals the power of centering that operates in the concreteness of the existence of organisms in the surroundings, the notion of figure-background corresponds to the phenomenological notion of operative intentionality. In the same way, it is a matter of showing in what sense, as a form of operative intentionality, the power of centering of organisms does not need to be based on the presupposition of an “I think”. Keywords: Merleau-Ponty; Goldstein; Gestalt; organismic intentionality.