I read sections of Sartre's Being and Nothingness many years ago. Even though the text is very heavy reading, I really enjoyed the idea that we do not address other people as human until we are aware of their gaze and are able to acknowledge that gaze as being the center of a point of view and hence the fact that our point of view is not the center of the universe. I did not read the whole text so Sartre may eventually get to the point that I am about to make, but I think it is not just the gaze that is required to acknowledge another's existence, but also their thoughts and feelings. I came to this conclusion after asking someone if they thought that others would be offended by something that they said. The person responded by identifying themselves as someone who was not against what they had been joking about. They had made a comment about being gay, even though they are not and then responded that they were not homophobic. This did not answer my question. I had asked them about what someone else might think, not what they were. I couldn't get an answer to the question though, it seemed impossible for this person to imagine what someone else might think or feel. Without this acknowledgment of thoughts and feelings I don't think that a person is capable of seeing beyond themselves and seeing another as a human being. Sartre's emphasis is on that moment when your world is completely shaken because you realize it doesn't just look the way you see it, it is seen in a completely different light by those that surround you. One has to be willing to think about how this difference in viewpoint, not only changes perception, but effects what is in one's heart and mind. Thus allowing for individual truths based on existence. The gaze I think, does make one aware that someone else can see you, but if this is not combined with an understanding or imagining that someone else thinks and feels differently, then the only product of the gaze is self-consciousness.