According to Maurice Merleau-Pontys phenomenological philosophy, the self and perception are encompassed in a physical body, and the physical body is part of the self. Merleau-Ponty believed that the physical body is an important part of what makes up the subjective self, and that consciousness is a dimension of our lived body. He rejected the idea that reason and mental perception are the basis of knowledge and self, as asserted by rationalism, and that our physical senses are our only source of knowledge, as believed by empiricism. Merleau-Pontys view of consciousness is that it is fundamentally a matter of the lived body in "communion" with the world, and not just something that happens between our ears. He wrote that "Inside and outside are inseparable. The world is wholly inside and I am wholly outside myself". In summary, Merleau-Pontys philosophy suggests that the self is embodied subjectivity, and that the physical body is an integral part of the self.