LITMIR.BIZ

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      Many excellent philosophers have helped to shape this project. I am thankful to John Russon, to whom this book is dedicated, for provocative conversations, particularly one Socratic walk around Toronto where he got me thinking about three levels of passivity in Merleau-Ponty’s thinking. Alia Al-Saji, for whom phenomenology is a rigorous science, has been an exceptional writing mentor, leading me to insights about temporality in Bergson and Merleau-Ponty. A natural phenomenologist, David Morris has challenged me to think of being in terms of development. Discovering Ted Toadvine’s deep work on nature was a pivotal moment in my learning, and I thank him for his many insightful comments on this work. I am indebted to Anthony Steinbock for sharing his original investigations at the Phenomenology Research Center, for challenging me to think about personhood, and particularly for his work on generative method in Husserl, out of which I develop the tripartite interpretative method of this study. Thanks are also due to thinkers who challenged me to think more deeply about nature, difference, and expression: Iain Macdonald, Cynthia Willett, Lisa Guenther, Doug Anderson, Hasana Sharp, George di Giovanni, Sunny Wang, Carolina Bergonzoni, William Ross Kemperman, Daniel Elliotte Allan, Zain Raza, Sarah McLay, Meghant Sudan, Donncha Coyle, Thomas Minguy, Filip Niklas, Ivanna Besenovsky, Jack Marcotte, and Jingjing Li.

      Inspiring colleagues have supported me and shared their passion with teaching over the years at Bishop’s University, the University of British Columbia, and the University of Maine, especially Kirsten Jacobson, Jessica Miller, Roger King, James Crooks, Bruce Gilbert, Steven Taubeneck, Scott Anderson, and Noah Moss Brender.

      I am grateful to John Russon for his outstanding teaching and work to lead vigorous philosophical seminars on the history of philosophy, where I discovered the inspiration to study philosophy and was introduced to a world of philosophers. I owe more than I can say to the participants of the Toronto Seminar for formative discussions over the years, especially Nate Andersen, Joe Arel, Ömer Aygün, Susan Bredlau, Noah Moss Brender, Tim Brownlee, David Ciavatta, Patricia Fagan, Tim Fitzjohn, Bruce Gilbert, Shannon Hoff, Whitney Howell, Kirsten Jacobson, Greg Kirk, Kym Maclaren, Scott Marratto, Laura McMahon, David Morris, Jeff Morrisey, Eve Rabinoff, Greg Recco, Bryan Richard, Karen Robertson, Eric Sanday, Jacob Singer, Maria Talero, and Ollie Wiitala.

      Deep thanks to the two anonymous reviewers who provided a wealth of philosophical resources and perspectives on the lacunae in this work. Thanks also to the tireless work of the staff and editors at Ohio University Press, particularly Rick Huard, Deborah Wiseman, and Ted Toadvine. I am indebted to Leonard Lawlor for sharing an early draft of his translation of Institution and Passivity with a small group of dedicated Merleau-Ponty scholars in Montreal in the winter of 2010. It was a gift to have had the colleagues of an informal Merleau-Ponty institution as interlocutors for several years in Montreal: merci beaucoup, Shiloh Whitney, Noah Moss Brender, David Morris, Tristana Martin Rubio, Lisa Guenther, Don Landes, and Dan Landreville.

      This project was born alongside several true friendships, and among this field of bright stars shine Aaron Pinnix, Shiloh Whitney, Oran Magal, Noah Moss Brender, Marianne Pelton, Iain Macdonald, Anna Ezekiel, Zachariah Ezekiel, Elaine Chukan Brown, Enoch Guimond, Sean Wood, Jean-François Desjardins, Clinton Debogorski, Roli Wilhelm, Harmony Page, Cherilyn Keall, Laura McMahon, and Jeff Morrisey. Respect to Peter, Marcus, Sean, Jon, and Andrew—friends from a time before time. I am lucky to have the support and love of Erin and Ronan O’Kane. I could not have undertaken this project without the love and generosity of my family: Mary Anne, Donald, Connie, Emma, Nick, Tashina, and, most of all, Jadyn River and Harper Jude.