The event as enigma and trace

Abstract

The purpose of this article is, first of all, to elucidate in the Phenomenology of perception, the framework from which the author understands history and, in particular, the historical event. It is argued that the description of this framework, which has a strong existentialist character, will allow us, in a second moment, to advance towards the specific features of the historical event: singularity, generality, and contingency, which offer the key to understand the extent in which the event is, from Merleau-Ponty’s point of view, an enigma and a trace. Finally, a prospective look at the author’s work will allow us to locate the position of Merleau-Ponty in the context of the current discussion.