What Merleau-Ponty and Jung Have in Common
Both talk about an “Objective Psyche.”
For Jung this was a better term for the Collective Unconscious.
Merleau-Ponty said that the Objective Psyche resides in cultural objects. In relics and landscapes, one finds proof of the presence of the Other, of other people, beneath a veil of anonymity. One is seen in the pipe for smoking, in the spoon for eating, in the bell for ringing; and it is in the perception of a human act and another man or woman that a cultural world is verified. – paraphrased from the French Phenomenologie de la Perception, 1945
Nina Lois is a graduate student at the University of Colorado at Denver obtaining a Master's Degree in Humanities with a B.A. in political science. Her passions are broad when it comes to the human condition. She is deeply interested in philosophy, psychology, environmental and social justice, peace studies, music, nutrition, tradition, and progress. 
Upon her imminent graduation, she wishes to contribute to the health, wealth, and happiness of the community through involvement, writing, and research. For goodness's sake, love the body, cultivate the mind and a garden, and feed the soul!
Thanks again
I remember being in art school with a head full of merleau-ponty… i believe that’s where my affection for the examination of culture and values was first put into words. However I can’t say that it had a positive impact on my artwork. To this day I remain a fan of Jung. Somehow there is something so much more compassionate in the thinking of a person who includes themselves as a part of the process.
I am not sure I have ever truly experienced the objective psyche as a light, or delightful thing. Perhaps it’s my own shortcoming – to have undertaken the hillsides, the mob at the mall, as the enemy and subconsciously struggled against the grain all my life – but there’s just something about the collective unconscious and Jung’s writing about it which is so inclusive, and also so detached from our conscious experience which leaves me full of love, and somehow more able to forge a connection, and exercise a willingness to break from my battles and lay down my weapons, and join the world.
That said, it is common ground between the two thinkers, and you have given me a wonderful morning remembering art school, and considering all of our connections. Thank you.
January 7th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
: )
Jung is indeed very compelling to me with his hands-on techniques to cultivate a relationship with the objective psyche. It’s shamanistic, I love it! It’s alive, potent, and productive, in my weepingly grateful experience.
Merleau-Ponty is one of two philosophers I am using in my thesis as foundational for the ideas I am working with. I am excited to present my thesis proposal coming up next…
So nice to hear from you, sunshine! Big hugs
January 8th, 2010 at 10:38 am