Material bodies : embodiment, flesh and plasticity in the post-phenomenological turn

This contribution proposes a theoretical framework that integrates Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s understanding of the body and of the notion of flesh, Catherine Malabou’s concept of plasticity, and Tom Sparrow’s critical reading of both, in order to reconceptualize what is here called material body within (post)phenomenology. Sparrow’s Plastic Bodies argues that traditional phenomenological approaches, by focusing on the body as Leib, neglect its material dimension, not only leading to a process of de-objectification but also of de-materialization. While the phenomenological body is more than an object, this emphasis on lived experience tends to downplay its physical, material reality. Sparrow’s post-phenomenological approach seeks to address this gap by rethinking the body’s materiality in a way that neither reduces it to mechanical determinism nor abstracts it into immateriality. Central to this rethinking is Catherine Malabou’s notion of plasticity, which proposes a body whose materiality is dynamic, responsive, and always in a state of becoming. This framework challenges the reductionist tendencies of both physicalism and idealism, advocating instead for a more complex understanding of embodiment that acknowledges the body’s materiality, while also allowing for the meaningful engagement with the world provided by phenomenology. By combining Merleau-Ponty’s insights into lived embodiment with Malabou’s concept of plasticity and Sparrow’s critique, this paper calls for a reimagining of the body that integrates its plastic materiality with its capacity for lived experience, offering a more holistic understanding of the embodied subject.