Highlights Merleau-Ponty’s interest in film and connects it to his aesthetic theory.

The time of half-sleep : Merleau-Ponty between Husserl and Proust -- Ad limina philosophiae : Merleau-Ponty and the "introduction" to Hegel's Phenomenology of spirit -- Nature : variations on the theme -- The thinking of the sensible.

In The Flesh of Images, Mauro Carbone analyzed Merleau-Ponty's interest in film as it relates to his aesthetic theory. Philosophy-Screens broadens the work undertaken in this earlier book, looking at the ideas of other twentieth-century thinkers concerning the relationship between philosophy and film, and also extending that analysis to address the wider proliferation of screens in the twenty-first century. In the first part of the book, Carbone examines the ways that Sartre, Merleau-Ponty, Lyotard, and Deleuze grappled with the philosophical significance (...) of cinema as a novel aesthetic medium unfolding in the twentieth century. He then considers the significance of this philosophical framework for understanding the digital revolution, in particular the extent to we are increasingly and comprehensively connected with screens. Smart phones, tablets, and computers have become a primary referential optical apparatus for everyday life in ways that influence the experience not only of seeing but also of thinking and desiring. Carbone's Philosophy-Screens follows Deleuze's call for "a philosophy-cinema" that can account for these fundamental changes in perception and aesthetic production, and adapts it to twenty-first century concerns. (shrink)

Philosophical interpretation of Proust based on the work of Merleau-Ponty and Deleuze.

Undoubtedly, the tragedy of September 11, 2001 has been an unprecedented visual event. And yet, as was pointed out by an article published in Esquire in 2003, “in the most photographed and videotaped day in the history of the world, the images of people jumping were the only images that became, by consensus, taboo.” This taboo looks like the other side of what Allen Feldman calls a “temporal therapy”: “the audience was being given temporal therapy by witnessing a mechanical sequence (...) of events, over and over, which restored the linearity of time, which had been suspended with the assaults.” Still, images like the photograph that is well-known under the title of “Falling Man” could be, thanks to their peculiar temporality, a good antidote against this “temporal therapy,” which aims at the formation of a specific “collective memory, and therefore of collective forgetfulness.” On top of a study on this kind of pictures, this paper will take into account the late Merleau-Ponty’s idea of a mutual precession of reality and images as a useful tool for understanding the peculiar temporality of such pictures. (shrink)

Five Unpublished Letters by Friedrich Nietzsche. Five unpublished letters by Nietzsche to Louise Röder-Wiederhold, as well as an unknown letter (draft) from her own hand suggest that Nietzsche’s negative judgment of her, which has dominated biographical Nietzsche research up to now, was anything but definitive and can be strongly relativized. The new documents also prove that Röder-Wiederhold was not only a temporary “secretary” for Nietzsche, but also an intellectual and humorous, interested, compassionate and independent-thinking correspondence partner, even if she did (...) not enter into a closer friendship with him. What particularly connected the two and remained an almost constant theme of their correspondence was the difficult life situation of their mutual friend, the unsuccessful composer Heinrich Köselitz, and how one could help him to get access to orchestras and opera stages in German-speaking countries which might perform his works. (shrink)

The Russian invasion of 2022 was based on an organized process of influence on the Ukrainian population, aimed at obtaining their support or neutralizing their possible resistance, in concert with the state apparatus. We find, in the backdrop of this process, the memorial conflict between these two countries and their neighbours, concerning World War II and the Soviet Union. This war of influence, or political warfare, which falls within new forms of contemporary hybrid warfare, profoundly has to do with images, (...) especially moving images. The cinematic images, the debauchery of their propaganda during the Second World War and throughout the existence of the USSR, still weighs on the bodies and minds; the new media has in many ways inherented them and their way of reenacting or extending propaganda on an individual or group scale. We will then question the place of images, and in particular those in motion, in the war between Russia and Ukraine since 2014 to describe the way in which they have served or still serve the military-memorial device deployed by the Russian invader. (shrink)

The Russian invasion of 2022 was based on an organized process of influence on the Ukrainian population, aimed at obtaining their support or neutralizing their possible resistance, in concert with the state apparatus. We find, in the backdrop of this process, the memorial conflict between these two countries and their neighbours, concerning World War II and the Soviet Union. This war of influence, or political warfare, which falls within new forms of contemporary hybrid warfare, profoundly has to do with images, (...) especially moving images. The cinematic images, the debauchery of their propaganda during the Second World War and throughout the existence of the USSR, still weighs on the bodies and minds; the new media has in many ways inherented them and their way of reenacting or extending propaganda on an individual or group scale. We will then question the place of images, and in particular those in motion, in the war between Russia and Ukraine since 2014 to describe the way in which they have served or still serve the military-memorial device deployed by the Russian invader. (shrink)

The Philosopher and the Moviemaker.Merleau-Ponty and the Thinking of CinemaAs its subtitle indicates, the present article is devoted to the relations between Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s philosophy and the thinking of cinema. The first section focuses on two topics, each underlying the lecture on cinema given by Merleau-Ponty in 1945. On the one hand, we find the reflection about the peculiarities of expression in film and cinematic image; on the other, we see the convergence between the inspiration of cinema and that of (...) philosophy, which Merleau-Ponty sees as a significant characteristic of his time. This is a convergence in which the nouvelle vague’s cinema will recognise itself and which Christian Metz will retrospectively confirm. Moreover, by developing both of these topics, the author finds a way to interpret Merleau-Ponty’s lecture as an undeclared polemical response to Henri Bergson’s famous negative judgement on cinema. The second section focuses on the question of movement in cinema, putting together further references to cinema made by Merleau-Ponty in posthumous or unpublished writings such as the notes for the 1952-53 course on “The Sensible World and the World of Expression.” The third section focuses on Merleau-Ponty’s later reflection about vision and images. This section shows how the peculiar noveltyof cinema is more and more understood by Merleau-Ponty not only as historically convergent with a new way of conceiving philosophy, but as a symptom of the new ontology he was trying to formulate philosophically.Il filosofo e il cineasta.Merleau-Ponty e il pensiero del cinemaCome sottolinea il suo sottotitolo, il presente articolo è dedicato alle relazioni fra la filosofi a di Maurice Merleau-Ponty e il pensiero del cinema. La prima sezione si concentra su due argomenti, ognuno ravvisabile nella conferenza sul cinema tenuta da Merleau-Ponty nel 1945. Da una parte, troviamo la riflessione sulle peculiarità dell’espressione filmica e dell’immagine cinematografica; dall’altra, la convergenza fra l’ispirazione del cinema e quella della filosofia, che Merleau-Ponty vede come una significativa caratteristica del proprio tempo: una convergenza in cui il cinema della nouvelle vague riconoscerà se stesso e che Christian Metz retrospettivamente confermerà. Inoltre, sviluppando entrambi gli argomenti, l’autore trova modo di interpretare la conferenza di Merleau-Ponty come una non dichiarata risposta polemica al celebre giudizio negativo sul cinema formulato da Henri Bergson. La seconda sezione si concentra sulla questione del movimento nel cinema, riunendo ulteriori riferimenti di Merleau-Ponty al cinema in scritti postumi o inediti, come le note per il corso del 1952-1953 su “Il mondo sensibile e il mondo dell’espressione”. La terza sezione si concentra sulla riflessione dell’ultimo Merleau-Ponty sulla visione e le immagini. Ciò mostra come la peculiare novità del cinema sia sempre più compresa da Merleau-Ponty non solo come storicamente convergente con un nuovo modo di concepire la filosofia, ma come un sintomo della nuova ontologia che egli stava cercando di formulare filosoficamente. (shrink)

Arte e "pre-mondo" : l'opera di Cézanne e la fenomenologia secondo Merleau-Ponty -- Tempo e parola : motivi proustiani in Phénoménologie de la perception -- Dicibilità del mondo e storicità di vita : espressione, verità, storia nel periodo intermedio del pensiero di Merleau-Ponty -- Alle radici stesse dell'essere : visibilità, natura e pittura nell'ultimo Merleau-Ponty -- Nessuno più di Proust : Le visible et l'invisible nello specchio della Recherche.

The Russian invasion of 2022 was based on an organized process of influence on the Ukrainian population, aimed at obtaining their support or neutralizing their possible resistance, in concert with the state apparatus. We find, in the backdrop of this process, the memorial conflict between these two countries and their neighbours, concerning World War II and the Soviet Union. This war of influence, or political warfare, which falls within new forms of contemporary hybrid warfare, profoundly has to do with images, (...) especially moving images. The cinematic images, the debauchery of their propaganda during the Second World War and throughout the existence of the USSR, still weighs on the bodies and minds; the new media has in many ways inherented them and their way of reenacting or extending propaganda on an individual or group scale. We will then question the place of images, and in particular those in motion, in the war between Russia and Ukraine since 2014 to describe the way in which they have served or still serve the military-memorial device deployed by the Russian invader. (shrink)

Toujours déjà expressif, habité par la dimension du langage au moment même de l'expérience, le "visuel" est un champ à part entière où se croisent réel et imaginaire, et donc une nouvelle forme de compréhension de notre rapport au monde. En ce sens, les derniers travaux de Merleau-Ponty, par leur réflexion sur la question du visuel, remettent en cause la plupart des catégories par lesquelles nous avons coutume de "nommer" notre rapport au monde. Cette problématique se révèle particulièrement importante aujourd'hui. (...) Le développement continu des technologies optiques et médiatiques ne cesse d'ouvrir nos existences à des formes inédites de visualisation et d'expérience, et impose une compréhension renouvelée du statut contemporain des images. Convaincus que la pensée du dernier Merleau-Ponty peut contribuer de manière décisive à saisir ces enjeux, les dix auteurs des interventions recueillies dans ce volume des philosophes ainsi que des spécialistes internationaux des médias provenant de cinq pays différents proposent une réflexion collective particulièrement homogène et novatrice autour des croisements entre les notions de "visible" et de "visuel"."--Page 4 of cover. (shrink)

Nonostante l’immagine della visione sia ancora largamente dominata dal paradigma della finestra, per quanto il cinema stesso si sia concepito a partire da tale figura, evocata per altro dal nome del sistema operativo informatico più diffuso nel mondo – Windows –, la mia ipotesi è che, nell’epoca presente, è piuttosto lo schermo ad essere diventato il dispositivo ottico di riferimento, discostandosi in maniera significativa dal modello della finestra. Per questo ritengo che comprendere in che modo pensiamo la nostra esperienza degli (...) schermi oggi, può aiutarci a comprendere la nostra esperienza presente della visione. Credo inoltre che la nostra esperienza contemporanea degli schermi sia il risultato dell’esperienza percettiva dello schermo che è stata inaugurata dal cinema, nonostante le molteplici differenze che separano queste due strutture. A questo proposito, sappiamo che, fin dalla tenda dietro la quale Pitagora si nascondeva, la superficie opaca dello schermo è stata tradizionalmente considerata come qualcosa che impedisce la visione e dunque come ciò che nasconde la verità. Al contrario, l’avvento del cinema ha mostrato che l’opacità di tale superficie è anche ciò che ci permette di vedere, così che luce ed ombra, tradizionalmente opposti dalla nostra cultura, non possono esistere separatamente. Ma possiamo ancora aggiungere che una simile superficie ha da sempre suscitato e orientato il desiderio di chi la contempla. Se un tale desiderio aveva coinciso con la possibilità di vedere oltre lo schermo, al di là di questo, al contrario oggi la superficie dello schermo è ciò che ci avvolge in una visibilità reversibile, invitandoci a soffermarci sulla sua superficie. Possiamo allora pensare il secolo del cinema, che si è da poco concluso, come la progressiva affermazione di una maniera differente di concepire il darsi del nostro incontro con il mondo. Tale modo nuovo, discostandosi dal dispositivo teatrale, cui la finestra rimandava in quanto sistema per eccellenza rappresentativo – come spettacolo percepito al di là del sipario –, apre a un dispositivo cinematografico, di cui tenterò di delineare alcune caratteristiche essenziali. (shrink)

Tout le trajet de la pensée de Merleau-Ponty est traversé – en certains cas de manière plus évidente que d’autres – par ce que je propose de définir comme une idée de la littérature et de la philosophie en tant que dispositifs de vision, pour utiliser une expression qui est née – et ce n’est pas un hasard – dans le domaine des études cinématographiques. Plus précisément, je voudrais montrer que Merleau-Ponty voit la littérature et la philosophie de son époque (...) opérer comme des dispositifs de vision convergents, vision qui est à considérer, à son tour, comme une pratique corporelle et pas seulement oculaire. Cela dit, il faut souligner que de tels dispositifs visuels convergents ont la particularité de fonctionner avec les mots, et que Merleau-Ponty met l’accent sur leur différente efficacité à exprimer son époque. De plus, je pense que l’idée implicite de la philosophie en tant que dispositif de vision opérant par des mots « comme toute la littérature » a une place importante, mais pour l’instant pas assez développée, dans la dernière période de la pensée de Merleau-Ponty. En outre, je voudrais souligner qu’une telle perspective est cruciale aussi pour notre époque, bien que je crois qu’elle soit différente de celle de Merleau-Ponty. En effet, je pense que notre époque et celle de Merleau-Ponty sont toutes deux caractérisées par une tension entre l’importance croissante des images et la centralité traditionnelle du concept dans notre culture.The whole path of Merleau-Ponty’s thought is crossed – some times more evidently than others – by what I propose to qualify as the idea of literature and philosophy as visual apparatuses, to use an expression that was born – and not by chance – in the field of Film Studies. More precisely, I aim at asserting that Merleau-Ponty sees literature and philosophy working in his epoch as convergent apparatuses of vision, in turn understood as a bodily and not merely ocular practice. Immediately after that, I should specify that such convergent visual apparatuses peculiarly function by words, and that Merleau-Ponty stresses their different efficiency in expressing his epoch.Moreover, I think that the implicit idea of philosophy as a visual apparatus working by words “like all literature” has a particularly relevant but so far not consequently developed place in in the last period of Merleau-Ponty’s thought. Also, I would like to stress that such a perspective is crucial in our own time too, even though I consider it to be different from Merleau-Ponty’s. Indeed, I think that both our time and Merleau-Ponty’s are characterized by a tension between the increasing importance of images and the traditional centrality of the concept in our culture.L’intero percorso del pensiero di Merleau-Ponty è attraversato, in certi casi in modo più evidente, da quella che propongo di definire come un’idea di letteratura e di filosofia come dispositivi di visione, per usare un’espressione nata, non a caso, nell’ambito dei Film Studies. Più precisamente, vorrei mostrare come Merleau-Ponty concepisca la letteratura e la filosofia della sua epoca come dispositivi di visione convergenti, intesi come una pratica corporea e non già meramente ottica. Specificherò, poi, che tali dispositivi di visione convergenti operano attraverso la parola e che Merleau-Ponty sottolinea la loro diversa efficacia nell’esprimere la sua epoca. Ritengo inoltre che l’idea implicita di filosofia come dispositivo di visione che agisce tramite la parola, “come tutta la letteratura”, occupi un posto particolarmente decisivo, anche se non del tutto esplicitato, nell’ultimo periodo del pensiero di Merleau-Ponty. Vorrei poi mostrare come tale prospettiva si riveli cruciale anche nel nostro tempo, per quanto diverso rispetto a quello di Merleau-Ponty. Infatti, penso che tanto la nostra epoca quanto quella di Merleau-Ponty siano caratterizzate da una tensione tra l’importanza sempre crescente delle immagini e la tradizionale centralità riservata al concetto nella nostra cultura. (shrink)

Em uma nota originalmente publicada em 1974 somente em italiano, Gilles Deleuze cunhou a expressão filosofia-cinema, aparentemente significando um novo estilo de fazer filosofia, a ser desenvolvido sob a luz das novidades do cinema. A fim de melhor entender o que uma “filosofia-cinema” poderia ser, antes de tudo devemos imaginar o que seria uma “filosofia antiquada”. Proponho caracterizá-la como uma “filosofia-pintura” baseada na noção de “representação”. Por sua vez, essa noção sugere uma concepção peculiar de visão baseada no modelo ótico (...) de “janela”, introduzido na pintura por Leon Battista Alberti e usado também na filosofia moderna. Esse modelo ainda funciona em nossa época? Apesar de numerosas referências recentes ao modelo janela, em minha opinião o modelo na ativa atualmente é aquele da “tela”. É claro que nossas relações diante das telas das mídias eletrônicas de hoje são diferentes daquele relacionamento que mantemos com a tela cinematográfica. Todavia, acho que esta última é a predecessora mais próxima dos modelos anteriores. De modo a entender os componentes da continuidade e da descontinuidade entre esses dois tipos de relacionamento, engajei-me numa investigação dos dois caminhos respectivos para mostrar o sonho de viver em uma tela. De fato, acho que esta investigação pode nos fornecer elementos importantes que permitam o desenvolvimento de uma “cinema-filosofia” na escala de hoje. (shrink)

«È ancora necessario, oggi in Italia, sforzarsi di sottolineare l’importanza e l’attualità del pensiero di Jan Patočka?» – si chiede Mauro Carbone presentando questo volume.