Temporality as a spatial field of presence
Temporality as a spatial field of presence

Summary/Abstract: According to Merleau-Ponty in his Phenomenology of Perception, we experience time as a “field ofpresence.” In his words, “It is in my ‘field of presence’ in the widest sense [...] that I make contact withtime, and learn to know its course.” This field is fundamental. It elucidates my spatial apprehension. Inhis words: “Perception provides me with a ‘field of presence’ in the broad sense, extending in two dimensions: the here-there dimension and the past-present-future dimension. The second elucidates thefirst.” In other words, I understand the spatial “here-there” dimension in terms of the temporal dimension. The “there” is what I immediately grasp in still having in hand “the immediate past.” In this article,I propose to examine the general conception of time as a field of presence. This examination can beseen as a kind of “thought experiment,” where we see what happens when we reverse this relation—i.e.,when we elucidate the “past-present-future dimension” in terms of the “here-there dimension.” Sucha reversal, I will argue, brings to the fore the pragmatic, spatial character of lived time. Not only doesit bring about a revision of horizonal structure of the field of presence, it also has consequences forpsycho-analytical research.

• Details
• Contents