Northwestern Child Psychology and Pedagogy: The Sorbonne Lectures, 1949-1952 (Spep) (Studies in Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty is one of the few major phenomenologists to engage extensively with empirical research in the sciences, and the only one to examine child psychology with rigor and in such depth. His writings have recently become increasingly influential, as the findings of psychology and cognitive science inform and are informed by phenomenological inquiry. Merleau-Ponty’s Sorbonne lectures of 1949 to 1952 are a broad investigation into child psychology, psychoanalysis, pedagogy, phenomenology, sociology, and anthropology. They argue that the subject of child psychology is critical for any philosophical attempt to understand individual and intersubjective existence. Talia Welsh’s new translation provides Merleau-Ponty’s complete lectures on the seminal engagement of phenomenology and psychology. About the Author MAURICE MERLEAU-PONTY (1908-1961), along with Sartre, introduced phenomenology to France. He held the Chair of Child Psychology and Pedagogy at the Sorbonne from 1949 to 1952. He then became a professor of philosophy at the Collège de France. TALIA WELSH is Associate U.C. Foundation Professor of Philosophy at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.