Magie et constitution chez le premier Sartre. Vers une figure de la néantisation

The aim of this paper is to show how the theme of magic leads the early Sartre to the well-known concept of nihilation. In order to reach this goal we will use the problem of the constitution of personal consciousness as a guiding thread. After having identified the main features of magic within the framework of Sartre’s distinction between consciousness and the psychic, we will first point out how magic helps clarifying some of the core elements of consciousness as such. We will then compare the different kinds of magic at stake in imaginative and emotional consciousness. We will finally turn to Being and Nothingness where, on our reading, the field of magic appears to disclose the activity of nihilation beyond the dichotomy of being-initself/ for-itself. As a conclusion, we will argue that magic can be considered as a residual element, as it were, of the process of nihilation.