The Imaginary: A Phenomenological Psychology of the Imagination (French: L'Imaginaire: Psychologie phénoménologique de l'imagination), also published under the title The Psychology of the Imagination, is a 1940 book by the philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, in which the author propounds his concept of the imagination and discusses what the existence of imagination shows about the nature of human consciousness.
The Imaginary: A Phenomenological Psychology of the Imagination
Sartre argues that while some believe imagining to be like an internal perception, imagination is nothing like perception. Perception is our study over time of a particular object with our senses. It is necessarily incomplete; one can only see one side of a chair at a time, for example. Thus, perception involves observation. By contrast, imagination is total. In the chair that appears in our imagination, we have all sides of the chair given to us at once. However, Sartre points out that imaginary objects cannot teach us anything. The totality of the chair that appears in our imagination comes from a synthesis of our knowledge of the chair and our intention toward it. We expect the chair to be X or Y, therefore, in our imagination, it appears to us this way. Thus, Sartre calls what goes on when we picture something imaginary, "quasi-observation". Imaginary objects are a "melange of past impressions and recent knowledge" (The Imaginary 90). In short, imaginary objects are what we intend them to be. Because imaginary objects appear to us in a way which is like perception but is not perception, we have a tendency to treat them as if they were real. That is not to say we are deluded; we know that they're imaginary. But we tend to ascribe emotions, traits, and beliefs to these irreal objects as if they were real.
Throughout the book Sartre offers arguments against conceiving images as something inside a spatial consciousness. Sartre refers to this idea as the "illusion of immanence".
Sartre says that what is required for the imaginary process to occur is an analogon—that is, an equivalent of perception. This can be a painting, a photograph, a sketch, or even the mental image we conjure when we think of someone or something. Through the imaginary process, the analogon loses its own sense and takes on the sense of the object it represents. Again, we are not deluded. But at some level the photograph of my father ceases being merely colors on paper and instead stands in for my absent father. I then have a tendency to ascribe the feelings I have about my father to the picture of him. Thus, an analogon can take on new qualities based on my own intention toward it.
Ultimately, Sartre argues that because we can imagine, we are ontologically free. A consciousness that could not imagine, he points out, would be hopelessly mired in the "real", incapable of the perception of unrealized possibilities, and thus any real freedom of thought or choice. In order to imagine, a consciousness must be able to posit an object as irreal—nonexistent, absent, somewhere else and it does so always from a particular point of view. All of our engagements with the world have the potential to activate the imaginary process. And because the imaginary process relies on intentionality, the world is constituted not from the outside into our consciousness, but rather we constitute the world based on our intentions toward it.
Editionsedit
Sartre, Jean-Paul, L'Imaginaire: Psychologie phénoménologique de l'imagination (Paris: Gallimard, 1940)
Sartre, Jean-Paul, The Imaginary: A Phenomenological Psychology of the Imagination Translated by Jonathan Webber, (London and New York: Routledge, 2004)
Referencesedit
External linksedit
The Imaginary. Google Books search with access to book preview.
April 10, 2024
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This article is written like a personal reflection personal essay or argumentative essay that states a Wikipedia editor s personal feelings or presents an original argument about a topic Please help improve it by rewriting it in an encyclopedic style November 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources The Imaginary Sartre news newspapers books scholar JSTOR November 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message The Imaginary A Phenomenological Psychology of the Imagination French L Imaginaire Psychologie phenomenologique de l imagination also published under the title The Psychology of the Imagination is a 1940 book by the philosopher Jean Paul Sartre in which the author propounds his concept of the imagination and discusses what the existence of imagination shows about the nature of human consciousness The Imaginary A Phenomenological Psychology of the ImaginationCover of the first editionAuthorJean Paul SartreOriginal titleL Imaginaire Psychologie phenomenologique de l imaginationCountryFranceLanguageFrenchSubjectImaginationPublished1940 Gallimard in French 1948 Philosophical Library in English Pages234 Routledge edition ISBN0 415 11954 5 Routledge edition Contents 1 Summary 2 Editions 3 References 4 External linksSummary editSartre argues that while some believe imagining to be like an internal perception imagination is nothing like perception Perception is our study over time of a particular object with our senses It is necessarily incomplete one can only see one side of a chair at a time for example Thus perception involves observation By contrast imagination is total In the chair that appears in our imagination we have all sides of the chair given to us at once However Sartre points out that imaginary objects cannot teach us anything The totality of the chair that appears in our imagination comes from a synthesis of our knowledge of the chair and our intention toward it We expect the chair to be X or Y therefore in our imagination it appears to us this way Thus Sartre calls what goes on when we picture something imaginary quasi observation Imaginary objects are a melange of past impressions and recent knowledge The Imaginary 90 In short imaginary objects are what we intend them to be Because imaginary objects appear to us in a way which is like perception but is not perception we have a tendency to treat them as if they were real That is not to say we are deluded we know that they re imaginary But we tend to ascribe emotions traits and beliefs to these irreal objects as if they were real Throughout the book Sartre offers arguments against conceiving images as something inside a spatial consciousness Sartre refers to this idea as the illusion of immanence Sartre says that what is required for the imaginary process to occur is an analogon that is an equivalent of perception This can be a painting a photograph a sketch or even the mental image we conjure when we think of someone or something Through the imaginary process the analogon loses its own sense and takes on the sense of the object it represents Again we are not deluded But at some level the photograph of my father ceases being merely colors on paper and instead stands in for my absent father I then have a tendency to ascribe the feelings I have about my father to the picture of him Thus an analogon can take on new qualities based on my own intention toward it Ultimately Sartre argues that because we can imagine we are ontologically free A consciousness that could not imagine he points out would be hopelessly mired in the real incapable of the perception of unrealized possibilities and thus any real freedom of thought or choice In order to imagine a consciousness must be able to posit an object as irreal nonexistent absent somewhere else and it does so always from a particular point of view All of our engagements with the world have the potential to activate the imaginary process And because the imaginary process relies on intentionality the world is constituted not from the outside into our consciousness but rather we constitute the world based on our intentions toward it Editions editSartre Jean Paul L Imaginaire Psychologie phenomenologique de l imagination Paris Gallimard 1940 Sartre Jean Paul The Imaginary A Phenomenological Psychology of the Imagination Translated by Jonathan Webber London and New York Routledge 2004 References editExternal links editThe Imaginary Google Books search with access to book preview Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Imaginary Sartre amp oldid 1202542990, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
