Beyond the Minimal Self
Philosophy Today January 1, 2021 Di Huang 2 citations
Sartre's theory of selfhood combines features of both minimal-self and narrative-self theories: it emphasizes the singular first-person perspective while also stressing the practical intelligibility of experience. The theory's distinctiveness lies in its idea that consciousness is necessarily related to an ideal of self-coincidence, which haunts the pre-reflective cogito and gives meaning to lived experiences. Consciousness exists as a question to itself, answered by projecting possibilities as creative and symbolic realizations of this ideal. Both the ideal and the possibilities of consciousness are lived in the manner of the imaginary, connecting Sartre's theories of imagination and selfhood.