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The Sartre Bookshelf

Existence precedes essence.

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The Imaginary: A Phenomenological Psychology of the Imagination (Routledge Classics)

Sartre’s 1940 study argues that consciousness can intend objects as absent or non-existent. That account of imagination is a key stepping-stone toward the freedom and nothingness of Being and Nothingness.

Editorial fit for its place in this reading order

This is the specialist deep cut, best for readers with some philosophy background. Choose the affordable 2010 Routledge Classics paperback rather than the pricey 2015 reissue.

Original text-based jacket for The Imaginary
Author
Jean-Paul Sartre · translated by Jonathan Webber
Edition
Routledge Classics, 2010 paperback · approximately 240 pages
ASIN
041556784X
Level
Specialist · primary source
Kindle
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What this book does

The book asks what consciousness is doing when its object is not present. Its answer supplies an important bridge from phenomenological psychology to Sartre’s later ontology.

Why it belongs at step 4

This is the specialist deep cut, best for readers with some philosophy background. Choose the affordable 2010 Routledge Classics paperback rather than the pricey 2015 reissue.

EDITORIAL NOTEThis review is grounded in the supplied bibliographic and content notes. It makes no claim of first-hand reading or timed completion.
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Edition and buying notes

Routledge Classics, 2010 paperback · approximately 240 pages. The recommended purchase is the 2010 Routledge Classics paperback, not the expensive 2015 reissue.

NEXT BOOK

Being and Nothingness — Save this long, technically demanding summit for last. The Barnes translation is the classic, affordable, widely stocked edition featured here.

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