The dynamics of institution of dimensions of perceptual experience in Merleau-Ponty

Abstract

From the work of Merleau-Ponty, we elaborate a discussion that, based on the expressiveness of the body scheme and its power to constitute sensory-motor habits, problematizes the faculty of transformation of perception. We are guided by the purpose of investigating the delineation of an ethos of the senses based on the transformation of perceptual schemes. Throughout the text, we analyze the praxical and intentional dimensions related to the body scheme; we approach the constant development of the body scheme through the acquisition of sensory-motor habits; we suggest the concept of level, adopted by Merleau-Ponty from the gestalt tradition, as a tool for understanding the corporeal process of constitution of new thresholds of perception and action in the world; and, at the end, we present notes for the exploration of the critical and social developments of Merleau-Pontian investigations of perception based on the expressive plasticity of the body scheme.