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The adult-child relationship in breastfeeding and development: a Merleau-Pontian perspective on the existential and social conflicts in childrearing

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Abstract

This paper discusses Merleau-Ponty’s use of idea of ambivalence and its role in psychological conflicts. Merleau-Ponty affirms ambivalent conflicts as lived and social rather than biologically determined, as one might have in some developmental accounts, or hidden, as in some psychoanalytic accounts. With this concept, the paper takes up feminist considerations of the conflicts experienced by mothers in breastfeeding. It argues that the Merleau-Pontian and feminist approach to considering breastfeeding provides a nuanced model for thinking about development that is better suited to cases where both the child and the parent are co-evolving.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy & Religion #2753, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, 615 Mc Callie Ave, Chattanooga, TN, 37403, USA

    Talia Welsh

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  1. Talia Welsh
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Correspondence to Talia Welsh.

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Welsh, T. The adult-child relationship in breastfeeding and development: a Merleau-Pontian perspective on the existential and social conflicts in childrearing. Phenom Cogn Sci 16, 649–659 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11097-017-9518-y

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