Originally published in 1973, this work continues to be a classic in the field of French phenomenology, focusing on his most seminal representative, Maurice Merleau-Ponty. By tracing how Merleau-Ponty accounts for the beginning of philosophical thought in the dual sense of understanding its origin and showing how that origin permits philosophy (and all thought) to achieve truth, Sallis demonstrates that this process is never fully completed. With a signifigant revival of interest in French phenomenology in recent years, this paperback edition--with a new preface by Sallis--provides an enduring and important voice to the dialogue.