Abstract

“You are your act” – Merleau-Ponty quotes from Saint-Exupéry at the very end of Phenomenology of Perception (Merleau-Ponty 2012: 483 ¹ ), where the passage occurs as if it is the conclusion of the book. Saint-Exupéry is describing a situation in which there is great danger, and in other references to it, Merleau-Ponty writes that “It can even happen that when I am in danger, . . . my body completely merges with action” (Merleau-Ponty 2012: 86), and that in these extreme situations one becomes aware of “the presence of self to self” (Merleau-Ponty 2012: 426). So they reveal something important: “You are your act”.