ILLUSION OF IMMANENCE

The term illusion of immanence comes from the Latin wordsilludere(to mock, to delude, to tempt) andimmanere(to remain in). It was introduced in or shortly before 1940 by the French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre (19051980) to denote the popular misconception that visually imagined objects constitute images existing somewhereinsidehuman consciousness. As Sartre argues, consciousness does not consist of a 'space' where images are housed.

Sartre, J.-P. (1940).L'imaginaire: Psychologie, phénoménologique de l'imagination. Paris: Gallimard.