Thesis advisor: John Sallis / Maurice Merleau-Ponty's last essay about art, Eye and Mind, refers to many painters, to painting, and even to sculpture. Yet there is hardly any use of the traditional categories used in art criticism to categorize artistic movements or to evaluate painters' contributions to their period. Instead, he uses terms such as `body' and `flesh' that are alien to that tradition, thereby indicating that he clearly intends to go beyond commenting on and assessing the artistic value of the works he mentions. Instead, the essay is a reevaluation of meaning of painting as a whole. Merleau-Ponty says that all painting from Lascaux to our day has been a celebration of `the visible.' However, to understand what he means by `the visible' involves considerable complexity. The standard by which Merleau-Ponty evaluates painting emerges from his phenomenological and ontological research into perception. I argue that in fact Eye and Mind answers a question that arose in his first major book concerning the relationship between consciousness and nature. Because the evolution of the ideas underlying the Eye and Mind's answer is so vast, the goal of this dissertation is to trace the thread leading from his earlier work in order to provide a unifying viewpoint that will ground an adequate understanding of the essay's various arguments. The dissertation argues that Merleau-Ponty's notion of the Gestalt or structure is the framework for understanding the origin and depth of the aperçus developed in Eye and Mind. Ironically perhaps, this notion is not mentioned in Eye and Mind. As if it had lost its original meaning, it is only referred to indirectly and vaguely in terms of transcendence. Nevertheless, the main issue settled in The Structure of Behavior dominated his understanding of the body in The Phenomenology of Perception, and underwent a transformation when Merleau-Ponty discovered language as a diacritical structure. This made possible the radical use he made of it in Eye and Mind without expressly mentioning it. Once the interpretation of Gestalt in relation to Paul Klee and Rudolf Arnheim had been worked out, this dissertation could use this notion--usually undervalued in Merleau-Ponty scholarship--to make sense of Eye and Mind's main contention in light of the interpretive reconstruction of the notions of expression, reversibility, body, and flesh Merleau-Ponty elaborated on the way to that essay. Part I of the dissertation deals with the phenomenology of the Gestalt structure prior to Merleau-Ponty's ontological turn, which in turn frames and underpins many of the insights achieved in this pre-ontological period, especially those about the body. The first two chapters introduce the notion of structure as it emerges in its application to behavior, and explain Merleau-Ponty's own contribution to the notion through the overcoming of earlier psychologists' static reduction of the notion to the physical level. The third and last chapter of Part I discusses the structural dimension of the body. There are two extraordinary things in Eye and Mind: the first is Paul Valery's statement that the painter "takes his body with him"; and the second is the analogy between the problems of the body and the problems of painting, by which Merleau-Ponty proposes that understanding one is indispensable for understanding the other. To clarify his proposal we have to return to The Phenomenology of Perception's analysis of the body according to embodied intentionality or motor intentionality, in which the body operates according to an "I can" that must replace the mechanical reaction to a stimulus. Here Merleau-Ponty was helped by Kurt Goldstein's insight into the body as a Gestalt. The dissertation illustrates what this could mean for the structure of a painting by using examples. What was formerly Part II profiles Merleau-Ponty's embodied notion of the Gestalt form against Arnheim's aprioristic account, which explains the relationship between consciousness and nature through an isomorphism that is even more ambitiously totalizing than the ones envisioned by the original Gestalt psychologists. Because of the detailed nature of our account this part is in two appendices. What is now Part II focuses on the problem of painting more directly. Using both the Notes de Cours (where Merleau-Ponty's most extensive comments on Paul Klee occur) and Paul Klee's own celebrated Notes, Chapter Four on Paul Klee reconsiders the relationship between consciousness and nature as the one between the painter and the world. Klee interpreted abstraction in terms of Gestalt as a form of transcendence involving the visible and the invisible, in contrast to Sartre's idea of transcendence, which also employs the figure/ground formation of the Gestalt. In Eye and Mind the expression of painting is interpreted as "a `visible' to the second power, a carnal essence or icon of the first." So Chapters Five and Six discuss the notion of structure from the viewpoint of expression. The doubling of expression in painting is seen first as analogous to philosophy as a hyper-reflection, and then in the linguistic distinction between le langage parlé et le langage parlant, which allowed Merleau-Ponty to interpret and generalize the model of expressive language via the diacritical structure of language and not restrict expressive language to bodily gestures. Rather than a return to the original (as The Phenomenology may have suggested), the point of this doubling aspect of expression is the recognition of the qualities of reversibility and difference that constitute `depth.' With the clarification of terms such as `perceptual faith' and `style,' Chapter Seven introduces the notion of reversibility before exploring its meaning, specifically in the second chapter of Eye and Mind. In Chapter Eight the earlier focus on the beginning of the definition of a painting as "a `visible' to the second power, a carnal essence or icon of the first," shifts to the meaning of the term "icon." This rounds off the meaning of `depth' and completes the exploration of the theme of the Gestalt structure. Now it becomes clear that the meaning of `depth' is articulated as the depth between the visible and the invisible, because the model used to understand depth is the by now very familiar basic articulation of the perceptual Gestalt: the articulation of a figure over a ground. Like a stain on a rug--in painting, in history, in philosophy, in language, or in perceptual faith--the crystallization of what appears always disguises an invisible dimension, whose invisibility is what makes the visibility of the visible possible. Chapter Nine then concludes the dissertation. It first considers Jean-Luc Marion's use of the icon in painting, in which, as in our interpretation of Merleau-Ponty on depth, uses his own idea of the depth between the visible and the invisible; and second, it responds to observations on Merleau-Ponty's philosophy of art by Veronique Fotí and criticisms of it by Michel Haar. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2012. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Philosophy.

Procuramos mostrar como a primeira das teses doutorais de Merleau-Ponty, A Estrutura do Comportamento, torna possível o retorno ao problema clássico da união do corpo e da alma, uma vez que, ao mesmo tempo em que faz a crítica do empirismo mecanicista que embasa as tentativas científicas (da neurofisiologia e da psicologia) de dar conta da vida orgânica e do comportamento, descobre nas descrições destes fenômenos um meio original em relação ao para-si suposto pelo criticismo como explicação e fundamentação última do conhecimento e limite para o que se pode dizer sobre o ser. Procuramos ademais sugerir as limitações do quadro conceitual em que o corpo e suas realizações, dentre as quais especialmente a percepção, podem voltar a desempenhar um papel decisivo na interrogação filosófica, em especial pela ênfase, a nosso ver excessiva, que o autor faz recair sobre a articulação entre símbolo e verdade e pela falta de descrição positiva da articulação entre as formas chamadas inferiores do comportamento ligadas ao instinto, à vida orgânica e a uma temporalidade circular - e o nível simbólico remetido à verdade, à liberdade e à História / We try to show how Merleau-Ponty\'s first doctoral thesis, The Structure of Behavior, allows for a comeback of the classical problem of the union of body and soul, once it criticizes the mechanicist empirism founding the scientific attempts (from neurophysiology and psychology) to explain the organic life and behavior, while unearthing in those fenomena a milieu that differs from the transcendental self embedded in criticism as a final explanation and foundation of knowledge, and as the limit to what one can say about being. We also try to point out to the limits of such conceptual framework, in which body and its performances, specially perception, may again play a crucial role in philosophical investigation, in particular because of excessive emphasis placed upon the connection between symbol and truth, and for a lack of positive description of the articulation between the so-called inferior forms of behavior connected to instincts, organic life and circular time and the symbolic level related to truth, freedom and History

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Psicologia, Programa de Pós-graduação em Psicologia Clínica e Cultura, 2018. / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES). / São grandes e promissores os avanços no tratamento em saúde mental, visando à humanização do acolhimento e tratamento do sofrimento psíquico. No Brasil e no mundo, os profissionais da saúde que se dedicam a essa intervenção se vêem impelidos a inserirem o respeito e o amor pelo humano em sua prática profissional cotidiana. No entanto, ainda que direcionassem esforços nessa direção, a de acompanhamento do sofrimento humano, historicamente subjazia a imprecisão sobre qual seria, de fato, a ‘doença’ que estava sendo tratada a partir do diagnóstico de ‘psicose’. Milhares de pessoas com sofrimentos psíquicos diversos, além do estigma, foram internadas ou excluídas, quando não submetidas a tratamentos desumanizantes e alienantes. A fim de tentar minimizar o impacto dos “pré-conceitos” instaurados pela psiquiatria clássica, o termo a ser utilizado neste estudo, ‘sofrimento psíquico grave’, é um constructo que nos dará liberdade para discutir crises intensas de cunho ‘normal’ ou ‘psicótico’, tratando daquilo que é inerente ao humano: a crise. Tradicionalmente, a Gestalt-terapia está associada à prática terapêutica alicerçada na ética do cuidado, que inclui a entrega sem reservas do terapeuta na relação com o paciente. Tendo se inspirado originalmente nas filosofias do Humanismo, Existencialismo, Existencialismo Dialógico e na Fenomenologia, essa prática clínica tomou corpo com os estudos realizados pela Psicologia da Gestalt, Teoria de Campo, Teoria Organísmica e Holismo. Desde a origem até os tempos atuais, a Gestalt-terapia tem se mostrado dinâmica e ativa na compreensão e no atendimento do humano em seus diversos ângulos mostrando-se, assim, capaz de realizar em si ajustamentos criativos saudáveis e expansivos na direção evolutiva ascendente. Ainda que a prática clínica pautada na Gestalt-terapia esteja difundida amplamente, necessitamos de maior produção acadêmica e teórica que assegure contribuições à comunidade científica, sendo possível maior acesso ao conhecimento da parte de gestalt-terapeutas e pacientes. Eis a pertinência de um estudo que traz em seu bojo os constructos teóricos e práticos da Gestalt-terapia – como imaginada por seus primeiros autores e desenvolvida por seus precursores – associada ao acolhimento e cuidado requeridos quando ocorre a manifestação do fenômeno do sofrimento psíquico grave. Compreendendo também como a Gestalt-terapia elabora o fenômeno da psicose em seu contexto teórico e prático. Assim, este trabalho teórico-clínico – predominantemente teórico – tem como objetivo a aproximação dos conceitos de acolhimento e cuidado com o sofrimento psíquico grave, ao analisar os sintomas de maneira crítica tanto quanto possível, potencializando o estudo do percurso e progressos desta área do conhecimento, além de ilustrar com vinhetas de casos clínicos, intervenções e atuações terapêuticas realizadas dentro do contexto de pesquisa do Grupo de Intervenção Precoce nas Primeiras Crises do tipo psicótica (GIPSI). / The advances in the treatment in mental health are great and promising, aiming at the humanization of the reception and treatment of the psychic suffering. In Brazil and in the world, health professionals who dedicate themselves to this intervention are forced to insert respect and love for the human in their daily professional practice. However, even though they directed efforts in this direction, that of accompanying human suffering, historically underlay the imprecision about what would, in fact, be the 'disease' that was being treated from the diagnosis of 'psychosis'. Thousands of people with various psychic sufferings, in addition to stigma, were hospitalized or excluded, if not subjected to dehumanizing and alienating treatments. In order to try to minimize the impact of the "preconceptions" introduced by classical psychiatry, the term to be used in this study, "severe psychic distress", is a construct that will give us the freedom to discuss intense crises of "normal" or " psychotic ', dealing with what is inherent in the human: the crisis. Traditionally, Gestalt therapy is associated with therapeutic practice grounded in the ethics of care, which includes unreserved delivery of the therapist in relation to the patient. Having been originally inspired by the philosophies of Humanism, Existentialism, Dialogical Existentialism and Phenomenology, this clinical practice has taken shape with studies carried out by Gestalt Psychology, Field Theory, Organismic Theory and Holism. From the origin to the present, Gestalt therapy has shown itself to be dynamic and active in the understanding and care of the human from its various angles, thus showing itself capable of realizing healthy and expansive creative adjustments in the ascending evolutionary direction. Although the clinical practice based on Gestalt therapy is widespread, we need greater academic and theoretical production that assures contributions to the scientific community, allowing greater access to knowledge on the part of gestalt therapists and patients. This is the pertinence of a study that brings to the fore the theoretical and practical constructs of Gestalt therapy - as imagined by its early authors and developed by its precursors - associated with the reception and care required when the manifestation of the phenomenon of severe psychic suffering occurs. Understanding also how Gestalt-therapy elaborates the phenomenon of psychosis in its theoretical and practical context. Thus, this theoretical-clinical work - predominantly theoretical - has the objective of approaching the concepts of acceptance and care with severe psychic suffering, analyzing the symptoms in a critical way as much as possible, potentializing the study of the course and progress of this area of knowledge , besides illustrating with vignettes of clinical cases, interventions and therapeutic actions performed within the context of research of the Early Intervention Group in the First Crises of Psychotic Type (GIPSI).

Made available in DSpace on 2019-03-29T23:54:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2014-09-03 / Being a humanist, existential and phenomenological perspective, gestalt therapy proposes a conception of man guided on the freedom to be and also the facticity of existence, living mainly through his body. If man has no essence a priori, but it makes existence from his freedom to be, according to Sartre's existential phenomenology, this happens every day, in every choice, and reveals itself, objectively, in a body that is, in fact, here now, marked by historically constructed meanings in a particular culture. So, too, is in the body that one can find the culture and the senses to which the person was exposed and she attributed herself. The body is then the means by which occur manifestations of human existence; is the man existing in a particular place, a particular culture and at a particular time. In this sense, reflect on the construction of representations of the body and psychotherapeutic practices in contemporary and, more precisely, on working with the body in gestalt therapy is a worthy goal within a phenomenological perspective, which treats of man in situation. So, discuss the work with the body in gestalt therapy from a dialogue with the existential phenomenology of Jean-Paul Sartre is the goal of this work. It is a literature review on the topic in the gestalt approach and a dialogue with the conception of the body present in Sartre's existentialist ontology. Is in existential phenomenology sartreana that one can find an approach of the body situated in the world, without, however, ceasing to be a project. In it, find the man in situation, moving in a context of world that is meant for his action. If gestalt therapy is a phenomenological approach, the Sartrean lens can clarify this practice, especially if is considered that Sartre discusses the basic theories of this psychotherapeutic approach. 8 Keywords: Body. Gestalt therapy. Existential phenomenology. Sartre. / Sendo uma perspectiva humanista, existencial e fenomenológica, a gestalt-terapia assume uma concepção de homem pautada na liberdade de ser e, também, na facticidade da existência vivida, principalmente, por meio do seu corpo. Se o homem não tem essência a priori, mas se faz existência a partir da sua liberdade de ser, conforme a fenomenologia existencial sartreana, isto ocorre a cada dia, em cada escolha, e se revela, objetivamente, num corpo que é, de fato, aqui-agora, marcado por sentidos construídos historicamente e numa determinada cultura. Assim, também, é no corpo que se pode encontrar a cultura e os sentidos aos quais a pessoa foi exposta e ela mesma se atribui. O corpo é, então, o meio pelo qual ocorrem as manifestações da existência humana; é o homem existente num determinado lugar, numa determinada cultura e num determinado tempo. Nesse sentido, refletir sobre a construção de sentidos sobre o corpo e das práticas psicoterápicas na contemporaneidade e, mais precisamente, sobre o trabalho com o corpo na gestalt-terapia é um valioso objetivo dentro de uma perspectiva fenomenológica, que trata do homem em situação. Assim, discutir o trabalho com o corpo na gestalt-terapia a partir de um diálogo com a fenomenologia existencial de Jean-Paul Sartre é o objetivo deste trabalho. Faz-se uma revisão da literatura sobre o tema na abordagem gestáltica e uma interlocução com a concepção de corpo da ontologia existencialista sartreana. É na fenomenologia existencial sartreana que se pode encontrar um enfoque do corpo situado no mundo, sem, no entanto, deixar de ser um projeto. Nela, encontra-se o homem em situação, em movimento, num contexto de mundo, que é significado por conta de sua ação. Se a gestalt-terapia é uma abordagem fenomenológica, a lente sartreana pode esclarecer esta prática, 6 principalmente se considerarmos que Sartre discute as suas teorias de base desta abordagem psicoterapêutica. Palavras-chave: Corpo. Gestalt-Terapia. Fenomenologia Existencial. Sartre.

This paper explores artistic interpretation of a script's theme to its visual, estetic representation and meaning. The purpose is to reflect on the topic, and to enhance our understanding of how an interpretation from written intention to visual representation can form. The aritstic production used in this artistic research is an animated feature film for children 10+ and the character design of its lead female character.

The theory of Gestalt was proposed in the nineteenth century to explain and predict the way that people perceptually group visual elements, and it has been used to develop guidelines for designing visual computer interfaces. In this thesis we seek to extend the use of Gestalt principles to the design of haptic and visual-haptic displays. The thesis begins with a survey of Gestalt research into visual, auditory and haptic perception. From this survey the five most commonly found principles are identified as figure-ground, continuation, closure, similarity and proximity. This thesis examines the proposition that these five principles can be applied to the design of haptic interfaces. Four experiments investigate whether Gestalt principles of figure-ground, continuation, closure, similarity and proximity are applicable in the same way when people group elements either through their visual (by colour) or haptic (by texture) sense. The results indicate significant correspondence between visual and haptic grouping. A set of haptic design guidelines for haptic displays are developed from the experiments. This allows us to use the Gestalt principles to organise a Gestalt-Taxonomy of specific guidelines for designing haptic displays. The Gestalt-Taxonomy has been used to develop new haptic design guidelines for information displays.

This thesis investigates the part-to-whole relationship in architectural and urban design, and the dialectic that exists between the conceptual and the perceptual in the built environment. Working with Gestalt principles and traditional architectural conventions, this projects seeks a greater understanding of how basic graphic relationships enhance our perception of the built environment, in order to find new ways in which architecture can respond to the contemporary city. This project is located in Seoul, Korea, a city currently lacking a contemporary architectural identity. It is a city of multiplicity but no coherence, and this thesis seeks to understand how the dynamic relationship between parts in the built environment can encourage greater unity at the scale of architecture and the city.

Thesis (M.A.)--Western Kentucky University, 2009 / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 28-31).

Issued also as Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University. / Bibliography: p. 66-67.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1935. / Vita.