Possibility arises only through a being that comprehends and embodies its own possibles.

Evidence

If the possible can in fact come into the world only through a being which is its own possibility, this is because the in-itself, being by nature what it is, can not “have” possibilities. The relation of the in-itself to a possibility can be established only externally by a being which stands facing possibilities. The possibility of being stopped by a fold in the cloth belongs neither to the billiard ball which rolls nor to the cloth; it can arise only in the organization into a system of the ball and the cloth by a being which has a comprehension of possibles. But since this comprehension can neither come to it from without—i.e., from the in-itself—nor be limited to being only a thought as the subjective mode of consciousness, it must coincide with the objective structure of the being which comprehends its possibles. To comprehend possibility qua possibility or to be its own possibles is one and the same necessity for the being such that in its being, its being is in question. But to be its own possibility—that is, to be defined by it—is precisely to be defined by that part of itself which it is not, is to be defined as an escape-from-itself towards—. In short, from the moment that I want to account for my immediate being simply in so far as it is what it is not and is not what it is, I am thrown outside it toward a meaning which is out of reach and which can in no way be confused with immanent subjective representation. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 382

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the for-itself’s relation to possibility as identity, not mere intuition: to comprehend possibles is to be defined by what one is not, an escape-from-itself toward unrealized meaning.
• XREF: This definition of the for-itself as ‘what it is not’ and ‘escape-from-itself towards’ is precisely the ontology Beauvoir’s Ethics of Ambiguity builds on. — connects to: Being is logically prior to nothingness, which has only borrowed existence. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 208; Possibilities often reveal themselves only through the very act of realizing them — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 246; Only a being that makes itself its own lack can introduce lack. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 353 (+10 more)

Broader Connections

• The possible becomes real only through a person’s project, not as pre-existing logical possibility #corroborates (0.88)
• Possibility exists only as an option on being that separates one from oneself #expands (0.85) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 381
• Possibility is a concrete property of already existing beings, not a subjective construct #qualifies (0.85) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 378
• Only a being whose being is in question for itself can have a Future #expands (0.80)
• The human is the unique entity whose Being includes questioning Being itself. #expands (0.80)