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'We may therefore conclude that imagination is not an empirical power added to consciousness, but it is the whole of consciousness as it realizes its freedom.' - Jean-Paul Sartre . Sartre's L'Imaginaire was first published in French in 1940 and in English in 1948. This new translation, the first for over fifty years, is of the recent French edition revised by Arlette Elkaim-Sartre. It corrects many important mistakes in the earlier English translation and includes a new introduction by Jonathan Webber, placing the book in a contemporary context. The Imaginary is one of Sartre's most important works and an ideal introduction to his thought. It is a brilliant and lucid examination of one supposedly simple human act: the act of imagining something. Sartre's genius is to show that between this act and the world that imagination creates, lies nothing less than a new theory of of human consciousness. The book contains Sartre's devastating criticisms of scientific psychology and he presents, for the first time, the radical theories of consciousness and human freedom that were to appear a few years later in his magnum opus, Being and Nothingness. Considering the role of the imagination and the emotions, such as disgust, Sartre argues that it is because human beings can imagine or think of things as they are not , that they are ultimately free. The Imaginary is essential reading for anyone interested in Sartre, exitentialism, phenomenology, twentieth century philosophy and philosophy of mind.
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The Imaginary Jean-Paul Sartre (1905–1980) was the foremost French thinker of the twentieth century: philosopher, novelist, dramatist, literary critic and political theorist. He studied philosophy first in Paris and Berlin, before publishing his first novel, Nausea, in 1938. He was a prisoner of war during World War Two, and when he returned to Paris upon his release he became active in the Resistance movement. He published his philosophical masterwork, Being and Nothingness, in 1943, and subsequently gave up teaching to spend more time writing. In 1964 Sartre turned down the Nobel Prize for literature, because he did not want to be associated with any awarding institution. When he died in 1980, fifty thousand people turned up at his funeral in Paris. To Albert Morel Jean-Paul Sartre The Imaginary A phenomenological psychology of the imagination Revisions and Historical Introduction by Arlette Elkaïm-Sartre Translation and Philosophical Introduction by Jonathan Webber First published 1940 in French as L’imaginaire by Éditions Gallimard This translation first published 2004 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2004. © 1940, 1986 Éditions Gallimard Translation © 2004 Routledge Historical Introduction © 2004 Arlette Elkaïm-Sartre Philosophical Introduction © 2004 Jonathan Webber All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Sartre, Jean-Paul, 1905–1980 [Imaginaire. English] The imaginary: a phenomenological psychology of the imagination/Jean-Paul Sartre; revised by Arlette Elkaïm-Sartre; translated and with an introduction by Jonathan Webber. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Imagination. I. Elkaïm-Sartre, Arlette. II. Ti