Abstract

This chapter has two main aims. The first is to examine the specific references Merleau-Ponty makes to idealism prior to the publication of _Phenomenology of Perception._ This examination can help one get a better sense of what, exactly, Merleau-Ponty means by the term and what he is actually objecting to in his critical discussions. The second aim is to provide historical context for these references by discussing the three idealist philosophers—Léon Brunschvicg, Edmund Husserl, and Immanuel Kant—who most influenced Merleau-Ponty’s philosophical development. This textual and contextual investigation will show that Merleau-Ponty is targeting some very specific views—which are often directly tied to Brunschvicg’s thought—when he is critical of idealism.