The Imaginary: A Phenomenological Psychology Of... Direct

Before Sartre, many psychologists treated "images" like miniature photos stored in a mental filing cabinet. Sartre argued this was a "fallacy of the world." To him, an image isn't a thing in the mind; it is a .

An image requires a conscious effort to maintain; if you stop "doing" the image, it vanishes. 3. The Link to Freedom The Imaginary: A Phenomenological Psychology of...

Because you create the image, it only contains what you put into it. You can't count the whiskers on an imaginary cat if you didn't specifically imagine a certain number of whiskers. Sartre warns that while the imaginary is a

Sartre warns that while the imaginary is a sign of freedom, it can also be a trap. Since the imaginary world is "perfect" (it has no resistance and does exactly what we want), it can be more seductive than the messy, resistant real world. He views things like art and fiction as ways we try to solidify these imaginary "nothings" into something others can share. if you stop "doing" the image

Unlike a real object you have to study to understand, an image is given to you all at once. You can’t "learn" anything new from your own mental image.

When you imagine a friend, you aren't looking at a picture of them; you are "aiming" your consciousness at that friend in a specific way—specifically, a way that acknowledges they are currently absent. 2. The Four Characteristics of the Image

The most profound conclusion of The Imaginary is that the ability to imagine is the ultimate proof of human freedom.