Abstract

This article deals with Sartre's idea of the self and of its tense relation to what he calls "pure consciousness". Everything seems to occur as if the self were produced by spontaneous consciousness, in such a way that consciousness thereby disguises its "monstrous spontaneity". But what is this spontaneity and how does it constitute an Ego? In order to answer this question, we must also make explicit what type of self-consciousness this Ego guarantees. The article, finally, aims to explore to what extent every relation of the Ego to itself is to be understood as a result of the absolute spontaneityof consciousness. It looks as if the Ego has still a concern with itself that remains marginal to self-consciousness as such, and therefore does not affect freedom in its absoluteness