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Full Idea
Sartre defends a view of consciousness as nothing but a directedness towards objects, insisting that these objects are transcendent with respect to that consciousness; hence Sartre is one of the first genuine externalists.
Clarification
'Transcendent' means beyond, here; Externalists say mind is partly defined by external factors
Gist of Idea
Sartre says consciousness is just directedness towards external objects
Source
report of Jean-Paul Sartre (Being and Nothingness [1943]) by Mark Rowlands - Externalism Ch.1
Book Ref
Rowlands,Mark: 'Externalism' [Acumen 2003], p.4
A Reaction
An ancestor here is, I think, Schopenhauer (Idea 4166). The idea is attractive, as we are brought up with idea that we have a thing called 'consciousness', but if you removed its contents there would literally be nothing left.
Related Idea
Idea 4166 A consciousness without an object is no consciousness [Schopenhauer]
| 22227 | For Sartre there is only being for-itself, or being in-itself (which is beyond experience) [Sartre, by Daigle] |
| 6151 | Sartre says consciousness is just directedness towards external objects [Sartre, by Rowlands] |
| 6164 | Sartre rejects mental content, and the idea that the mind has hidden inner features [Sartre, by Rowlands] |
| 22228 | Sartre's freedom is not for whimsical action, but taking responsibility for our own values [Sartre, by Daigle] |
| 20760 | Sincerity is not authenticity, because it only commits to one particular identity [Sartre, by Aho] |
| 7074 | Man is a useless passion [Sartre] |
| 20743 | Appearances do not hide the essence; appearances are the essence [Sartre] |
| 22233 | Love is the demand to be loved [Sartre] |
| 6687 | Man is the desire to be God [Sartre] |
| 20755 | Fear concerns the world, but 'anguish' comes from confronting my self [Sartre] |
| 22231 | We flee from the anguish of freedom by seeing ourselves objectively, as determined [Sartre] |