Becoming Otherwise: Maurice Merleau-Ponty and a Phenomenology of Aging
Defense Date
11-10-2023
Graduation Date
Fall 12-15-2023
Availability
One-year Embargo
Submission Type
dissertation
Degree Name
PhD
Department
Philosophy
School
McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts
Committee Chair
Dr. Fred Evans
Committee Member
Dr. Lanei Rodemeyer
Committee Member
Dr. Jay Lampert
Committee Member
Dr. Edward Casey
Keywords
aging; phenomenology; merleau-ponty; embodiment; temporality; old;
Abstract
This dissertation is both a corrective and critical phenomenological project that draws on Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception to provide an analysis of the distinctly ethical, social, and political dimensions of the lived experience(s) of growing older in ageist social worlds. It proceeds in five chapters. Chapter One explores the intertwining of age and phenomenality to set the stage for the chapters that follow. Chapter Two draws on conceptual and methodological resources in Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception (2012) to provide an account of aging embodiment in terms of embodied norms. Chapter Three explores the experience of changing bodily and perceptual capacities in aging. I develop an analysis of aging as a mode of embodiment that expresses a more cautious intentionality than traditional accounts of operative intentionality put forth. Chapter Four advances a novel understanding of the life-course through the lens of critical phenomenology. Drawing on research by critical gerontologist Amanda Grenier, I suggest that aging be understood in terms of meaningful transition across existence rather than a linear unfolding of pre-given stages or units of time. Chapter 5 brings together the conclusions of the last four chapters to analyze the socio-political and material stakes of aging through the lens of what I call ageist social worlds. The final section of the chapter offers ways of unlearning ageist habits of seeing and being with others to become what I call “age-conscious.”
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Martin Rubio, T. (2023). Becoming Otherwise: Maurice Merleau-Ponty and a Phenomenology of Aging (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/2292
