This is an advanced introduction to and original interpretation of Merleau-Ponty's greatest work, Phenomenology of Perception. Timothy Mooney provides a clear and compelling exposition of the theory of our projective being in the world, and demonstrates as never before the centrality of the body schema in the theory. Thanks to the schema's motor intentionality our bodies inhabit and appropriate space: our postures and perceptual fields are organised schematically when we move to realise our projects. Thus our lived bodies are ineliminably expressive in being both animated and outcome oriented through-and-through. Mooney also analyses the place of the work in the modern philosophical world, showing what Merleau-Ponty takes up from the Kantian and Phenomenological traditions and what he contributes to each. Casting a fresh light on his magnum opus, this book is essential reading for all those interested in the philosophy and phenomenology of the body.

‘Mooney presents us with an original, historically accurate, and philosophically rich interpretation of Merleau-Ponty's masterpiece. Filled with careful descriptions, arguments, and compelling examples, this is phenomenological scholarship at its best.'

Walter Hopp - Boston University

‘… the focused and precise attention to the Kantian and Husserlian sources of Merleau-Ponty’s phenomenology, the projective capacities of the body, and the productive imagination, makes this study a work of consummate scholarship.’

David W. Johnson Source: Journal of the History of Philosophy