On the problem of Exupérian heroism in Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology of perception

In this dissertation I seek to ascertain why Merleau-Ponty concludes his Phenomenology of Perception with lines drawn from Saint-Exupery's Pilote de guerre. This ending has received no critical scrutiny in the literature on Merleau-Ponty. Yet it is quite puzzling; for the content of the cited passage is antithetical to the philosophical thrust of Merleau-Ponty's work. And yet, it is linked to the idea of 'the realization of philosophy'. Given that this idea constitutes the guiding impetus of Merleau-Ponty's existential phenomenology, a comprehensive understanding of Merleau-Ponty's project requires coming to terms with the role of Saint-Exupery within it.To this end, I examine the major themes of Saint-Exupery's work, in particular the 'cosmic humanism' of Pilote de guerre, showing that this is based on a spiritual account of self-sacrificial action. I then reconstruct the core of Merleau-Ponty's existential phenomenology as a 'militant' philosophy, focusing my analysis around the notion of 'human productivity'. On this basis, I provide a detailed reading of Merleau-Ponty's essay "Man, the Hero" in terms of post-Hegelian philosophy of history, and I provide a detailed comparison of Saint-Exupery and Merleau-Ponty with regard to truth and freedom.This analysis reveals that heroism for Merleau-Ponty is the manifestation of pure human productivity and, as such, is a phenomenally objective purposiveness. Drawing on Kant's third Critique, I conclude that the rationale for Merleau-Pontian heroism is to furnish sensory evidence attesting to the possibility of a solution to the human problem. Through the concept of the hero, or of heroic purposiveness, we are able to cognize the potential suitability of the natural world for the realization of human reconciliation. The hero is thus the linchpin of Merleau-Ponty's teleology of consciousness, and of the transcendental project that hinges on this teleology