being-of-the-past

The ontological inquiry into what it means for the past to 'be,' rejecting both the notion that it no longer exists and that it has a static, honorary existence.

1 chapter across 1 book

Being and Nothingness (1943)Jean-Paul Sartre

Chapter 2GT142

This chapter explores the phenomenology of temporality, focusing on the ontological status of the past in relation to present consciousness. Sartre critiques common conceptions that either deny the being of the past or grant it a static existence, arguing instead that the past is ontologically connected to the present and future through a synthesis that constitutes personal identity and memory. He challenges theories that reduce memory to present traces and emphasizes the inseparability of pastness from the present moment of consciousness.