Children and Adults in the Light of Phenomenological Concepts of M. Merleau-Ponty

Abstract

The paper offers an analysis of the child-adult relationship problems in the context of the phenomenological psychology and pedagogy of M. Merleau-Ponty. The authors first outline Merleau- Ponty’s key philosophical standpoint on which he builds his views on psychological and pedagogical problems. The paper focuses on the problem of understanding a child’s world and the possibility of communication between children and adults, as well as on the problem of children’s perception of the world around them. The authors also look at Merleau-Ponty’s criticism of Piaget’s views on the abovementioned problems.

Keywords

• Merleau-Ponty
• pedagogy
• psychology
• children
• adults.