▨ merleau-ponty

"Merleau-Ponty was aware [...] of the ambiguities of vision [...] If the flesh is viewed as wholly opaque – [...] – it acts as an obstacle, something that alienates the viewer from what is seen. But if viewed another way, seen through as much as seen, the ‘thickness’ (l’épaisseur, implying something between transparency and opacity) of the flesh, far from being an obstacle, is what enables us to be aware of the other and of ourselves as embodied beings, and becomes the means of communication between the two" p. 167

"In Merleau-Ponty’s terms, it [the problem of the self] has to do with the plane of focus: whether the ‘I’ is transparent (transparency) or opaque." p. 224