Spielraum. Il gioco come rapporto libero col mondo

The paper attempts to read the theme of Play through the Merleau-Ponty’s concept of Spielraum. We argue that this concept allows a non-dialectical reading of the theme, through a complementarity structure that includes Seriousness and Play. The aim of the paper is to argue that Play sets an original and ontological field, the Spielraum indeed, where subject and object are included and co-determined. We start from Frederik J.J. Buytendijk’s studies on Play to demonstrate the non-deterministic structure of Play and its ontological relevance. We also suggest some consonances with other thinkers such as Deleuze and Nietzsche.