HUMANA.MENTE Journal of Philosophical Studies, 2022, 41, 121-148 ISSN: 1972-1293 Published online 03 August 2022 The Potential of Passivity Beyond the Intentional Model: Consciousness as Disarticulation in Merleau- Ponty’s Institution and Passivity Federica Buongiorno  federica.buongiorno@unifi.it Susan Kozel  susan.kozel@mau.se ABSTRACT This article reconfigures Merleau-Ponty’s “Problem of Passivity” into the potential of passivity. It contributes to Claude Lefort’s strong claims that Merleau -Ponty’s Passivity course from 1954-1955 published in the volume of course notes Institu- tion and Passivity (2010) provides an «attack against the root of modern ontology», and that the phenomenon of passivity has largely been «neglected by most philoso- phers». Reflected in these assertions is a 21st century perspective on Merleau- Ponty’s work, with relevance to current performative, corporeal and political re- workings of phenomenology. The article’s aim is to chart how Merleau-Ponty’s work on passivity, sleep and the unconscious represents a powerful critique of the Husserlian intentional model and the phenomenological concept of constitution, at the same time as opening potential for viewing consciousness as plural, culturally situated and diffracted. Premises This article reconfigures Merleau-Ponty’s “Problem of Passivity” into the poten- tial of passivity. It expands Claude Lefort’s claims from his Foreword to Institu- tion and Passivity (2010) that Merleau-Ponty’s Passivity course from 1954-1955 provides an «attack against the root of modern ontology», and that the phenom- enon of passivity has largely been «neglected by most philosophers». 1 Reflected  Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy.  Malmö University, Sweden. 1 Lefort (2010) Foreword to: Merlau-Ponty (2010) Institution and Passivity. Course Notes from the Collège de France (1954-1955). Evanston (IL): Northwestern University Press. xix-xx.