In discussing Giacometti's struggle with perception in the first part of this book, I referred to the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty (1908–1961). No other philosopher has devoted as much attention to the complexity of perception as Merleau-Ponty. His main work, Phenomenology of Perception, which was published in 1945 and brought him instant fame, is entirely devoted to this subject matter. As the title of the book indicates, Merleau-Ponty's analysis of perception is carried out in a phenomenological perspective. Since Merleau-Ponty was closely related to French existentialism, his approach is sometimes termed "existential phenomenology". The most important predecessor of French existentialism is undoubtedly Martin Heidegger (1889–1976), who is considered one of the most prominent philosophers of the twentieth century. Heidegger's reputation is largely due to his main work, Being and Time, which appeared in 1927 and is regarded a milestone. Heidegger's influence on French existentialism, and in particular on Jean-Paul Sartre (1905– 1980), can not be overestimated. But there is more. His impact on French thinking of difference (in particular that of Derrida and Lyotard, which will be the focus of our attention later in this third part) is considerable. So Heidegger's work is still very much alive today, despite its style of writing, which is generally deemed antiquated.