Journal for the History of Analytical Philosophy 1 (9) (2013)
Authors |
|
Abstract |
In contrast to many of his contemporaries, A. J. Ayer was an analytic philosopher who had sustained throughout his career some interest in developments in the work of his ‘continental’ peers. Ayer, who spoke French, held friendships with some important Parisian intellectuals, such as Camus, Bataille, Wahl and Merleau-Ponty. This paper examines the circumstances of a meeting between Ayer, Merleau-Ponty, Wahl, Ambrosino and Bataille, which took place in 1951 at some Parisian bar. The question under discussion during this meeting was whether the sun existed before humans did, over which the various philosophers disagreed. This disagreement is tangled with a variety of issues, such as Ayer’s critique of Heidegger and Sartre, Ayer’s response to Merleau-Ponty’s critique of empiricism, and Bataille’s response to Sartre’s critique of his notion of ‘unknowing’, which uncannily resembles Ayer’s critique of Sartre. Amidst this tangle one finds Bataille’s statement that an ‘abyss’ separates English from French and German philosophy, the first recorded announcement of the analytic-continental divide in the twentieth century.
|
Keywords | A.J. Ayer Maurice Merleau-Ponty Georges Bataille Phenomenology Nonsense Jean-Paul Sartre Martin Heidegger Rudolf Carnap |
Categories | (categorize this paper) |
DOI | 10.4148/jhap.v1i9.1449 |
Options |
![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Download options
References found in this work BETA
No references found.
Citations of this work BETA
Unresolvable Disagreements in Carnap’s Metametaphysics.Andreas Vrahimis - 2021 - Metaphilosophy 52 (2):1-21.
Language, Truth, and Logic and the Anglophone Reception of the Vienna Circle.Andreas Vrahimis - 2020 - In Adam Tamas Tuboly (ed.), The Historical and Philosophical Significance of Ayer’s Language, Truth and Logic. Hampshire: Palgrave. pp. 41-68.
Fenomenología de la percepción y nuevo realismo. Merleau-Ponty, Meillassoux y Markus Gabriel.Mario Teodoro Ramírez - 2021 - Dianoia 66 (86):27-49.
A Paradigm for Your Thoughts: A Kuhnian Analysis of Expertise.Ben Trubody - 2015 - Humana Mente 8 (28).
Similar books and articles
Ayer on Other Minds.Timothy L. S. Sprigge - 1992 - In Lewis Edwin Hahn (ed.), The Philosophy of A. J. Ayer. Open Court.
Collingwood and the Sea Anemone.Tim Lord - 2011 - Collingwood and British Idealism Studies 17 (1):117-134.
Ayer and Russell on Naive Realism.Michael Bradie - 1976 - PSA: Proceedings of the Biennial Meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association 1976:175 - 181.
Sartre's French Contemporaries and Enduring Influences: Camus, Merleau-Ponty, Debeauvoir & Enduring Influences.William Leon McBride (ed.) - 1997 - Garland.
French Existentialism: Consciousness, Ethics, and Relations with Others.James Giles (ed.) - 1999 - Rodopi.
Ayer on Perception and Reality.Ernest Sosa - 1992 - In The Philosophy of A. J. Ayer. Peru: Open Court.
A. J. Ayer on the Argument From Illusion.P. L. McKee - 1973 - Canadian Journal of Philosophy 3 (December):275-280.
Descriptive Analysis and the Sceptic.Anfinn Stigen - 1961 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 4 (1-4):228 – 269.
For-Itself and in-Itself in Sartre and Merleau-Ponty.John M. Moreland - 1973 - Philosophy Today 17 (4):311-318.
The Question of the Other in French Phenomenology.Françoise Dastur - 2011 - Continental Philosophy Review 44 (2):165-178.
Analytics
Added to PP index
2013-04-28
Total views
299 ( #34,845 of 2,499,685 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
44 ( #19,359 of 2,499,685 )
2013-04-28
Total views
299 ( #34,845 of 2,499,685 )
Recent downloads (6 months)
44 ( #19,359 of 2,499,685 )
How can I increase my downloads?
Downloads