The term âphenomenologyâ has become almost as over-used and emptied of meaning as that other word from Continental Philosophy namely âexistentialismâ. Yet Husserl who first put forward the phenomenological method considered it a rigorous alternative to positivism and in the hands of Merleau-Ponty a disciple of Husserl in France phenomenology became a way of gaining a disciplined and coherent perspective on the world in which we live. When this study originally published in 1977 there were only a few books in English on Merleau-Pontyâs philosophy. It introduced the reader and suggested how his thought might throw light on some of the assumptions and presuppositions of certain contemporary forms of Anglo-Saxon philosophy and social science. It also demonstrates how phenomenology seeks to unite philosophy and social science rather than define them as mutually exclusive domains of knowledge. . Language: English