Internal negation binds the for-itself to the in-itself it denies

Evidence

In this sense the internal negation is a concrete ontological bond. We are not dealing here with one of those empirical negations in which the qualities denied are distinguished first by their absence or even by their non-being. In the internal negation the for-itself collapses on what it denies. The qualities denied are precisely those to which the for-itself is most present; it is from them that it derives its negative force and perpetually renews it. In this sense it is necessary to see the denied qualities as a constitutive factor of the being of the for-itself, for the for-itself must be there outside itself upon them; it must be they in order to deny that it is they. In short the term-of-origin of the internal negation is the in-itself, the thing which is there, and outside of it there is nothing except an emptiness, a nothingness which is distinguished from the thing only by a pure negation for which this thing furnishes the very content. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 576

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies internal vs. empirical negation as the ontological bond between for-itself and in-itself.
• XREF: This is the crucial step in Sartre’s ontology that Beauvoir’s ethics builds on — the for-itself is constituted by what it denies. — connects to: The for-itself unifies scattered negations into a detotalized polyvalent negation; Internal negation belongs exclusively to the for-itself, never to being-in-itself — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 574; The For-itself’s being consists in internal negation rather than self-coincidence — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 445 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• The For-itself’s being consists in internal negation rather than self-coincidence #expands (0.90) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 445
• The for-itself depends on the in-itself through an internal relation #qualifies (0.85) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1437
• The for-itself constitutes itself through an original negation of the thing #corroborates (0.80) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 571