Spontaneity Under Captivity

The Imaginary

This flow traces the conflict between imagination’s spontaneous creativity and the constrained, fascinated forms of imagery associated with half-sleep and dreams.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

A Creative Act A Creative Act from "The Imaginary". Consciousness Produces Its Image The sense of spontaneity Sartre argues that imaging consciousness experiences itself as active rather than as a passive…

A Creative Act from "The Imaginary". Consciousness Produces Its Image The sense of spontaneity Sartre argues that imaging consciousness experiences itself as active rather than as a passive…

Consciousness Produces Its Image The sense of spontaneity Sartre argues that imaging consciousness experiences itself as active rather than as a passive recipient of an independent object. Its object is sustained by an act that is conscious of itself without making that self-awareness a separate object. This spontaneity helps distinguish an image from a perception imposed by an encountered thing. A fragile freedom The imagined object does not outlast the act in the way a real object does. Its apparent life depends on consciousness’s ongoing activity.

Fascination in Half-Sleep Fascination in Half-Sleep from "The Imaginary". Voluntary Control Weakens Attention loses distance As a subject approaches sleep, ordinary observation becomes difficult.

Fascination in Half-Sleep from "The Imaginary". Voluntary Control Weakens Attention loses distance As a subject approaches sleep, ordinary observation becomes difficult.

Voluntary Control Weakens Attention loses distance As a subject approaches sleep, ordinary observation becomes difficult. Sartre describes an altered condition in which consciousness can be captivated by impressions and interpretations rather than holding them at a distance. The subject may remain aware in a limited way while being less able to interrupt the emerging imagery. A constrained imagination Hypnagogic imagery therefore complicates the idea of free creation. Consciousness is still involved, but its activity is captured by its own developing syntheses.

The Dream’s Enchantment The Dream’s Enchantment from "The Imaginary". Freedom Becomes Difficult to Recover The story takes hold In Dream, consciousness is fascinated by the imagined sequence and cannot readily step outside it to…

The Dream’s Enchantment from "The Imaginary". Freedom Becomes Difficult to Recover The story takes hold In Dream, consciousness is fascinated by the imagined sequence and cannot readily step outside it to…

Freedom Becomes Difficult to Recover The story takes hold In Dream, consciousness is fascinated by the imagined sequence and cannot readily step outside it to consider alternatives. A possible interruption can become just another event within the dream. This gives dream events a fatalistic force without turning the dream into ordinary perception. Awakening restores distance A reflective act or disruptive reality can break the enclosure. The struggle dramatizes how imagination can remain spontaneous while also becoming difficult to escape.

End of Part I, Chapter 1

Middle of Part I, Chapter 2, Section VI

Final chapter of Part IV