Love Under the Scenario of Contingency. Notes on the Love Relationship from Merleau-Ponty and Simondon

Abstract

The essay tries to retrace the essential elements that constitute our amorous relationality starting from the work of Merleau-Ponty and Simondon. First of all, we will consider the Merleau-Pontian conception of the body as a fundamental structure that enables us to conceive of our sentimental life in embodied terms. Then, we will elucidate the meaning of the sensible ideas theorized by Merleau-Ponty on the basis of Proust’s work, with particular attention to the sentimental institution and the revaluation of the amorous imagination. It will then be possible to to consider Simondon’s work in order to retrace the meaning of the notions of emotion, affectivity and invention, in the attempt to understand the characteristics that contribute to the transindividual individuation of the couple. Finally, we will try to recompose our technological and digital experience from the point of view of our amorous experiences, focusing on the pervasiveness of screens and on the possibility of rethinking their status as transindividual mediators of our desire and sentimental life.