Objective states of affairs become causes only through a for-itself’s project

Evidence

To be sure, the cause is objective; it is the state of contemporary things as it is revealed to a consciousness. It is objective that the Roman plebs and aristocracy were corrupted by the time of Constantine or that the Catholic Church is ready to favor a monarch who at the time of Clovis will help it triumph over Arianism. Nevertheless this state of affairs can be revealed only to a for-itself since in general the for-itself is the being by which “there is” a world. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1089

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies that the for-itself is ‘the being by which there is a world’ — the ontological ground of all revelation of causes.
• XREF: connects to: Causes do not determine actions; causes emerge only through an already-constituted project toward ends. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1090; Cause is the objective situation apprehended as a means toward a presupposed end — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1086; Past motives become objective things, collapsing the distinction between cause and motive — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1092 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• The for-itself constitutes itself by choosing and projecting concrete possibles #corroborates (0.90) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1509
• The past’s force and meaning depend entirely on present projects #corroborates (0.90)
• Past motives become objective things, collapsing the distinction between cause and motive #expands (0.85) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1092
• Individual acts express and are unchangeable apart from one’s original project #expands (0.85) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1119
• Acting for a cause is inseparable from acting for oneself #corroborates (0.85)
• External objects resist the For-itself’s projects by a measurable degree #qualifies (0.80)