Maurice Merleau-Ponty's Criticism of Bergson's Theory of Time Seen Through The Work of Gilles Deleuze

Abstract

In this article I examine the relation between the philosophies of Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Gilles Deleuze by looking at the way they refer to the time theory of Henri Bergson. It appears that, although Merleau-Ponty copies some fundamental Bergsonian insights on the nature of time, he presents himself as a critical reader of the latter. I will show that Merleau-Ponty's interpretation of Bergson differs fundamentally from the one by Deleuze, but that Merleau-Ponty's 'corrections' to Bergson fit Deleuze's reading of Bergson very well. This indicates a similarity with respect to what is at stake in the philosophies of Merleau-Ponty and Deleuze. The critical reference that Deleuze makes to Merleau-Ponty's conception of cinema and thus of movement is hence not justified, but the result of a selective and prototypical reading of the early Merleau-Ponty.