Memory in the Early Philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre

Memory is a recurring theme in Jean-Paul Sartre's work. However, Sartre never formulated an explicit theory of memory. When he did discuss memory he reached two conflicting conclusions: (1) in his theory of imagination and in his early text The Transcendence of the Ego memory is presented as a mimetic power and memories are repetitions of the past; (2) in his other texts, among them Being and Nothingness, memory is portrayed as a creative force that reconstructs experience rather than repeats it. I argue that Sartre held two conflicting notions of memory since he thought that recollection as a whole--understood either in mimetic or reconstructive terms--stifles consciousness and obstructs freedom. In the dissertation I explore the ways in which memory becomes responsible, according to Sartre, for the constitution of selfhood and for the creation of a solid character with a defined history, which eventually leads to the evasion of the free agency of consciousness. Against the mimetic and reconstructive models of memory I pose the notion of "existential memory", which is not a term that Sartre himself used but which emerges from his work on human temporality. The notion of "existential memory" provides an opportunity to conceive of a possibility of relating to the past in an authentic manner, without objectifying it or losing sight of one's freedom. In response to the challenges raised by Sartre's concerns with bad faith, existential memory is a model of authenticity.

Grantor dc:publisher

Temple University. Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2011

Author dc:creator

• Levy, Lior D.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Gordon, Lewis R. (Lewis Ricardo), 1962-

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Logan, Peter Melville, 1951-
• Taylor, Paul C. (Paul Christopher), 1967-
• Gordon, Jane Anna, 1976-
• Charmé, Stuart L.

• Philosophy
• Authenticity
• Consciousness
• Imagination
• Memory
• Sartre
• Self

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• IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Dc Identifier Other

864885569

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarshare.temple.edu:20.500.12613/1727