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Existentialism

Imagination & Creativity in Jean-Paul Sartre

Understanding the imagination was central to Sartre’s attempts to understand what it is to be human, and how we should live. Maria Antonietta Perna thinks he had important insights which are still worth considering.

What is imagination? The word itself seems to be used in at least two different ways, and as this ambiguity is reflected in various studies of the imagination, it needs to be cleared up. This I will try to do in the first part of this article. Afterwards, I will focus on Jean-Paul Sartre’s theory of the imagination. In my view it offers an insight into our relationship with the world, and with each other, which deserves renewed attention. The conclusions arrived at in the first part of the article will help defend Sartre’s position against a common line of criticism.

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