From psychology to ontology: Gestalt in Maurice Merleau-Ponty

This dissertation is based on a study note in Maurice Merleau-Ponty's book Le Visible et l'Invisible, translated into Turkish as Görünür ile Görünmez, in September 1959. This note was a reminder to himself to show that psychology is ontology. In this expression, which came to light late in his life, Merleau-Ponty declares that what has been seen as psychology from the very beginning of his research is in fact the study of human existence, in a way declaring the deep and complex relationship of psychology to ontology. In this case, psychology should investigate human existence in its living and embodied reality, rather than simply studying behavior or the psyche. Therefore, this dissertation aims to present how psychology takes place in the development of the French philosopher's philosophical thought from La Structure du Comportement to Görünür ile Görünmez with his work in the 1930s, and how it transforms into the investigation of a deep ontological structure through Gestalt analysis, which is at the center of his philosophical thinking. Because his interaction with Gestalt psychology starts from his early works and is at the center of his philosophical thought. The phenomenological method used in this study aims to describe the determinations on psychology and ontology in Merleau-Ponty's work. In line with this aim, his interest in Gestalt psychology is described due to the importance he attaches to perception, a central concept shared by psychology and philosophy. This interest did not remain only in psychology, but evolved into a curiosity to understand the basic structures of human existence and extended to the ontological bond that human beings establish with the world. Therefore, the dissertation argues that Gestalt theory is a unifying theme throughout the development of the French philosopher's philosophy and that this unifying theme continues through conceptual transformations.