Abstract

Silvana de Souza Ramos and Iracy Ferreira dos Santos Junior’s interview with Emmanuel de Saint Aubert explores the history and role of the Husserl Archives (Paris) in fostering multidisciplinary research in phenomenology. Saint Aubert clarifies Merleau-Ponty’s engagement with Husserl’s manuscripts, describing the situated and complex reading he undertook not only of these manuscripts but also of Husserl’s work as a whole. This aspect is particularly significant for contemporary French philosophical studies, as Merleau-Ponty played a pivotal role in introducing Husserl’s ideas into French thought. This clarification allows us to show the originality of Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy, as it reveals that he was not merely an exegete of Husserl, but a restless and multifaceted thinker, deeply involved in the intellectual and political debates of his time. If he cannot be reduced to a mere reader of Husserl, neither can his later ontology be simply attributed to Heidegger’s influence. Once engaged in a meticulous study of the unfinished manuscripts that Merleau-Ponty left behind due to his premature death, which were drafts for a new book, Saint Aubert conducted a thorough investigation of Merleau-Ponty’s use of key terms in his ontology – chair, Leib, empiétement, chiasmi – showing that these terms do not literally translate or express concepts derived from Husserl or Heidegger. On the contrary, these terms acquire a multifaceted range of meanings in Merleau-Ponty’s writings, nourished by his philosophical readings and meditations, by his scientific and literary refinement, as well as his ethical and political concerns. Saint Aubert’s research, dedicated to the interpretation of Merleau-Ponty’s so-called “unpublished” works, resulted in the publication of five books by Vrin, all guided by a transversal genetic reading of Merleau-Ponty’s work. Additionally, with the help of other researchers, Saint Aubert carefully edited and published several volumes of Merleau-Ponty’s manuscripts. This material, made available in an organized and contextualized manner, is of incomparable richness, allowing for a more precise understanding of Merleau-Ponty’s role in contemporary thought, while also illuminating the meaning of his ontological project.