The Image Cannot Teach

The Imaginary

This flow traces the tension between an image’s appearance of observation and its dependence on knowledge already held by the person imagining.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

The Seeming Invitation The Seeming Invitation from "The Imaginary". An Object That Looks Observable The perceptual appearance An image presents its object through profiles and sensible qualities, which makes it seem as if the…

The Seeming Invitation from "The Imaginary". An Object That Looks Observable The perceptual appearance An image presents its object through profiles and sensible qualities, which makes it seem as if the…

An Object That Looks Observable The perceptual appearance An image presents its object through profiles and sensible qualities, which makes it seem as if the observer could inspect it. A mental image of a page can resemble the act of looking at printed lines. That apparent observational stance is one reason imagery has often been confused with perception. The first contradiction Unlike a perceived page, however, an imaged page does not disclose unexpected details. Its apparent objecthood conceals the fact that its content is governed by the consciousness that forms it.

The Panthéon Challenge The Panthéon Challenge from "The Imaginary". Columns That Cannot Be Counted A test of observation Sartre invokes the challenge of counting the columns of the Paris Panthéon from memory.

The Panthéon Challenge from "The Imaginary". Columns That Cannot Be Counted A test of observation Sartre invokes the challenge of counting the columns of the Paris Panthéon from memory.

Columns That Cannot Be Counted A test of observation Sartre invokes the challenge of counting the columns of the Paris Panthéon from memory. The image may seem present, but the observer cannot treat it like the building before their eyes. Its apparent details are not available for independent inspection in the way perceptual features are. What the failure reveals The image is neither a miniature building nor a weak perception. Its sensible character is supplied through a representative medium, while knowledge determines what can appear.

Knowledge Sets the Boundary Knowledge Sets the Boundary from "The Imaginary". The Object Gives No Surprises The principle clarified Sartre’s examples establish that one cannot discover through an image what one did not know beforehand.

Knowledge Sets the Boundary from "The Imaginary". The Object Gives No Surprises The principle clarified Sartre’s examples establish that one cannot discover through an image what one did not know beforehand.

The Object Gives No Surprises The principle clarified Sartre’s examples establish that one cannot discover through an image what one did not know beforehand. A vague image can remain vague because no further observation will resolve what its matter never supplied. The image’s certainty is therefore unlike the progressive certainty of perception. The conflict resolved The appearance of observation persists, but its authority is denied. This account preserves the image’s intuitive character while explaining its limits through the Principle of quasi-observation.

Early in Part I, Chapter 1, Section III

During Part II’s account of how things appear in the mental image

At the close of Part II, Chapter 5