Chiasm and Imagination in the “Late” Merleau-Ponty

Abstract

The concept of “chiasm” is central to the philosophy of the “late” Merleau-Ponty.My aim is to retrieve this concept in order to show that, within the framework of the new ontology outlined in Le visible et l’invisible and the notes written during the same period, its function corresponds to the function that imagination has performed throughout the history of philosophy. Thus, an ontology of chiasm necessarily involves reflecting upon an ontology of imagination. Furthermore, the concept of chiasm enables us to shed new light on the problem of subjectivity.