The Wound and the Remedy: Relativism and Perspectivism in Merleau-Ponty and Viveiros de Castro

Relativismo e perspectivismo em Merleau-Ponty e Viveiros de Castro

Abstract

The world and knowledge revealed from a single perspective—precisely because a multiplicity of viewpoints is presupposed—are often regarded as a form of 'dangerous' relativism. This article aims to show that, although perspectivism in Merleau-Ponty is fundamentally distinct from the Amerindian perspectivism of Viveiros de Castro—above all because they originate from different fields of knowledge—a comparison between the two, in terms of their respective relationships to relativism, does not yield an empty echo. To that end, a perspective on the concept of perspective will first be proposed—a conceptual trajectory that moves from Merleau-Ponty to the perspectivism of Gilles Deleuze, a theoretical influence through which Viveiros de Castro, along with the ethnographic references that make up the repertoire of Cultural Anthropology, developed the concept of Amerindian perspectivism. Subsequently, it will be demonstrated that the notion of multiplicity in both authors is key to understanding that, although neither form of perspectivism is reducible to relativism, both maintain a close relationship with relativity—that is, with the primacy of relation that emerges within difference.