Reflective consciousness alone can dissociate itself from what it posits
Evidence
But that is not true: to affirm that the consciousness (of) belief is consciousness (of) belief is to dissociate consciousness from belief, to suppress the parenthesis, and to make belief an object for consciousness; it is to launch abruptly on to the plane of reflectivity. … It is on the reflective level only that we can attempt an , a putting between parentheses, only there that we can refuse what Husserl calls the mitmachen. The consciousness (of) belief, while irreparably altering belief, does not distinguish itself from belief; it exists in order to perform the act of faith. Thus we are obliged to admit that the consciousness (of) belief is belief. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 330
Categorization
- XREF: Sets up the reflective vs pre-reflective distinction that Beauvoir’s entire ethical system leans on; also contrasts with Husserl’s transcendental reduction which Sartre here rejects. — connects to: The Ego appears only when consciousness reflects on itself.; Mental imagery itself requires a nihilating withdrawal of consciousness; Consciousness sustains its own being rather than being sustained by it. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 304 (+12 more)
- DEFINE: Clarifies the Sartrean distinction between the specifically reflective level and the pre-reflective consciousness (of) belief.
Broader Connections
- Reflection deepens the reflective-reflected split beyond self-consciousness
#expands(0.90) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 802 - Reflection aims to make the self-coincident being that consciousness can never simply be
#corroborates(0.85) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 511 - Reflective self-recovery produces only distance and reflective nothingness
#expands(0.85) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 513 - Reflection splits consciousness in a split never completed
#expands(0.85) - Reflection is consciousness attempting to become its own object
#expands(0.80)