The Evolution of the Meaning of Pierre

Being and Nothingness

This thread follows how an absent or dead person's significance changes according to the projects of those who remember him.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Concrete Bond A Concrete Bond from "Being and Nothingness". A Concrete Bond Relation to Another The Other is not first an abstract category.

A Concrete Bond Relation to Another The Other is not first an abstract category. A particular person can shape how someone understands himself and his place in the world. Dependence The relationship is a real bond of being, not merely a set of observations about another body.

Pierre as Absent Pierre as Absent from "Being and Nothingness". Pierre as Absent Presence Through Absence A friend can be absent from a place yet remain present through shared plans and expectations.

Pierre as Absent from "Being and Nothingness". Pierre as Absent Presence Through Absence A friend can be absent from a place yet remain present through shared plans and expectations.

Pierre as Absent Presence Through Absence A friend can be absent from a place yet remain present through shared plans and expectations. The absence belongs to a continuing relation. Emotional Meaning The absent person helps structure the survivor's world even without appearing as an object in it.

Death Changes the Bond Death Changes the Bond from "Being and Nothingness". Death Changes the Bond No Return Death ends the possibility that Pierre can reassume or revise his past. The relation is no longer reciprocal in the same way.

Death Changes the Bond from "Being and Nothingness". Death Changes the Bond No Return Death ends the possibility that Pierre can reassume or revise his past. The relation is no longer reciprocal in the same way.

Death Changes the Bond No Return Death ends the possibility that Pierre can reassume or revise his past. The relation is no longer reciprocal in the same way. Survivor's Responsibility Those who remain become responsible for the being of the dead person within their shared world.

A Life Interpreted A Life Interpreted from "Being and Nothingness". A Life Interpreted Memory's Selection The survivor carries certain episodes forward and gives them a place in the story of Pierre's life.

A Life Interpreted from "Being and Nothingness". A Life Interpreted Memory's Selection The survivor carries certain episodes forward and gives them a place in the story of Pierre's life.

A Life Interpreted Memory's Selection The survivor carries certain episodes forward and gives them a place in the story of Pierre's life. The interpretation is free but not arbitrary. Objectified Past The dead person's life becomes a fixed object for the living, with meanings that can be disputed but not answered by Pierre.

The Dead Among the Living The Dead Among the Living from "Being and Nothingness". The Dead Among the Living Continuing Presence The dead persist through places, objects, memories, and public accounts.

The Dead Among the Living from "Being and Nothingness". The Dead Among the Living Continuing Presence The dead persist through places, objects, memories, and public accounts.

The Dead Among the Living Continuing Presence The dead persist through places, objects, memories, and public accounts. Their presence is neither ordinary life nor simple absence. Fate Their posthumous existence depends on living freedoms, which may preserve, transform, or neglect what they were.

Part Three, Chapter One, discussion of shame and recognition

Part Three, Chapter Three, discussion of absence

Part Two, Chapter Two, example of Pierre after death

Part Two, Chapter Two, discussion of the survivor's past

Part Two, Chapter Two, closing reflections