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Towards a phenomenology of grief: Insights from Merleau‐Ponty
Author(s) -
Ratcliffe Matthew
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
european journal of philosophy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.42
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1468-0378
pISSN - 0966-8373
DOI - 10.1111/ejop.12513
Subject(s) - phenomenology (philosophy) , grief , indeterminacy (philosophy) , epistemology , psychology , interpretative phenomenological analysis , phenomenological method , psychoanalysis , psychotherapist , philosophy , sociology , qualitative research , social science
This paper shows how phenomenological research can enhance our understanding of what it is to experience grief. I focus specifically on themes in the work of Maurice Merleau‐Ponty, in order to develop an account that emphasizes two importantly different ways of experiencing indeterminacy . This casts light on features of grief that are disorienting and difficult to describe, while also making explicit an aspect of experience upon which the possibility of phenomenological inquiry itself depends.