Freedom exists only as engaged, self-choosing action, never as undetermined potential
Evidence
Therefore the freedom of the for-itself appears as its being. But since this freedom is neither a given nor a property, it can be only by choosing itself. The freedom of the for-itself is always engaged; there is no question here of a freedom which could be undetermined and which would pre-exist its choice. We shall never apprehend ourselves except as a choice in the making. But freedom is simply the fact that this choice is always unconditioned. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1145
Categorization
- DEFINE: Distinguishes Sartrean freedom from an undetermined freedom preceding choice — freedom is always already engaged.
- XREF: This is the systematic core that Beauvoir’s ethics of ambiguity inherits: no pre-existing self to be faithful to, only choices in the making. — connects to: Freedom is the foundational condition of all action — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1069; Freedom is meaningful only as engaged by free choice of ends; Freedom is only real once it chooses its own finitude. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1176 (+11 more)
Broader Connections
- Freedom is meaningful only as engaged by free choice of ends
#corroborates(0.90) - Freedom is only real once it chooses its own finitude.
#corroborates(0.82) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1176 - Freedom requires a perpetual renewal of self-choice without any support
#expands(0.80) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1147 - Freedom exists only by being conquered from original spontaneous existence
#corroborates(0.78) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity, 22 - Freedom is won by constant pursuit, not granted or gifted.
#corroborates(0.78) — Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 109 - Freedom is the for-itself’s permanent ability to nihilate its own being
#expands(0.75) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1075 - Freedom means autonomy of choice, not success in obtaining one’s ends.
#corroborates(0.74) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1154 - Freedom chooses its being but cannot choose not to be
#qualifies(0.72) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1146 - Freedom requires choosing one’s own essence, not merely one’s acts
#expands(0.70) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1126 - Willing one’s freedom and willing that being exist are one choice
#expands(0.70) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity, 72