Published Books

In Defense of Phenomenology: Merleau-Ponty's Philosophy

New Brunswick, Transaction Publishers, 2016. (Now with Routledge)

French phenomenological philosopher Maurice Merleau-Ponty argued for the primary role perception plays in understanding the world as well as engaging with it. As a contributor to phenomenology, Merleau-Ponty faced his fair share of criticisms. In this new book, Douglas Low comes to the defense of both Merleau-Ponty and phenomenology.

Merleau-Ponty in Contemporary Context: Philosophy and Politics in the Twenty-First Century

New Brunswick, Transaction Publishers, 2013. (Now with Routledge)
Book review by Iulian Apostolescu.

This volume presents the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty, a great philosopher and social theorist of mid-twentieth century, as a viable alternative to both modernism and postmodernism. Douglas Low argues that Merleau-Ponty's philosophy offers explanations and solves problems that other philosophies grapple with, but do not resolve, given their respective theoretical presuppositions and assumptions. Low brings the work of Merleau-Ponty into critical contact with important thinkers, including Sartre, Heidegger, Derrida, and Marx.

Merleau-Ponty's Last Vision: A Proposal for the Completion of "The Visible and the Invisible"

Evanston, Northwestern University Press, 2000. (Amazon)
Book review by Helen Fielding.

Few writers' unfinished works are considered among their most important, but such is the case with Merleau-Ponty's The Visible and the Invisible. What exists of it is a mere beginning, yet it bridged modernism and postmodernism in philosophy. Low uses material from some of Merleau-Ponty's later works as the basis for completion. Working from this material and the philosopher's own outline, Low presents how this important work would have looked had Merleau-Ponty lived to complete it.

The Existential Dialectic of Marx and Merleau-Ponty

New York, Peter Lang Publishers, 1987. (Amazon)

The Existential Dialectic of Marx and Merleau-Ponty is one of the few books to offer an in depth epistemological study linking the works of Karl Marx with a major existentialist thinker. The author first documents the existential and dialectical themes that can be found in Marx's writings and then proceeds to show that Marx's method is strikingly similar to that employed by Merleau-Ponty. It is Merleau-Ponty, however, who has developed this method in detail. Dr. Low thus turns to a thorough analysis and exposition of Merleau-Ponty's first major work, The Structure of Behavior, to reveal Merleau-Ponty's innovative and well-balanced alternative to traditional empiricism and rationalism. Merleau-Ponty's method, as it is revealed here, will be of interest to philosophers, psychologists and social scientists concerned with freeing themselves from the limitations imposed by traditional methodologies.


Journal Articles

Articles that appear as a chapter in a book

Manuscripts dealing with Alienation (Alienation Trilogy. Re-citing works already cited above.)

Public Concerns & Public Writings

(This section contains unpublished materials released online. However, much of the material listed below has been accepted by the University of West Florida Institutional Repository, for those who wish to refer to a more acceptable citation source.)

Maurice Merleau-Ponty Biography

Reading List For The Study Of Maurice Merleau-Ponty's Philosophy

Student Guides Online

Interview

Education and Experience