An Inquiry into Merleau-Ponty's Interpretation of the Dialectical Aspect of Modern Art and the Revelation of Being in it, Focusing on Cezanne's Paintings

Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908-1961), the French phenomenologist philosopher, tries to emphasize the fact that his phenomenological philosophy is in line with the modern art movement, and by doing so, tries to cross the dualities of object and subject, us and the world, and finally artistic versus intellectual approaches. He holds that modern art is able to help a philosopher in his reflections on the modes in which Being reveals itself, giving him new approaches. Modern art, and Cézanne’s works in particular, make it possible for the “things” to open up, and by doing so, reveal their hidden aspect and also reveal Being. The methods used in this study are phenomenology and hermeneutics. Through these methods, we investigate Merleau-Ponty’s particular conception of the painter and the painting, spectator and spectacle, and also the revelation of Being in modern art. This study emphasizes the dialectical aspect of modern art and the position of Being, places modern art against the dominant scientific approaches and explains this particular approach.