Another person’s perception of objects disintegrates the spatial relations I establish between things

Evidence

To the extent that the man-as-object is the fundamental term of this relation, to the extent that the relation reaches toward him, it escapes me. I can not put myself at the center of it. The distance which unfolds between the lawn and the man across the synthetic upsurge of this primary relation is a negation of the distance which I establish—as a pure type of external negation—between these two objects. The distance appears as a pure disintegration of the relations which I apprehend between the objects of my universe. It is not I who realize this disintegration; it appears to me as a relation which I aim at emptily across the distances which I originally established between things. It stands as a background of things, a background which on principle escapes me and which is conferred on them from without. Thus the appearance among the objects of my universe of an element of disintegration in that universe is what I mean by the appearance of a man in my universe. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 718

Categorization

• XREF: This is the seed of the famous ‘the Other’s look’ analysis later in the book; connects to Sartre’s account of how the Other’s gaze challenges my world-coordinates. Builds toward Beauvoir’s reading of interpersonal freedom. — connects to: The Other cannot coherently organize my experience given the structure of experience itself; Perceiving another person’s body differs fundamentally from perceiving objects; The Other’s objective body cannot itself produce my objectification under his gaze (+6 more)

Broader Connections

• The Other’s look proves a beyond-the-world realm irreducible to spatial relations #corroborates (0.85)
• Perceiving another person’s body differs fundamentally from perceiving objects #expands (0.82)
• The Other grounds my objectivity rather than being inferred by analogy from myself #expands (0.80) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 756
• The Other’s objective body cannot itself produce my objectification under his gaze #complicates (0.78)