Questioning presupposes that humans are not fully determined by the causal order

Evidence

If we admitted that the question is determined in the questioner by universal determinism, the question would thereby become unintelligible and even inconceivable. … Thus in so far as the questioner must be able to effect in relation to the questioned a kind of nihilating withdrawal, he is not subject to the causal order of the world; he detaches himself from Being. … Thus in posing a question, a certain negative element is introduced into the world. … Man presents himself at least in this instance as a being who causes Nothingness to arise in the world, inasmuch as he himself is affected with non-being to this end. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 223

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes the core ontological sense of Nothingness: not a thing but a withdrawal humans introduce into being through questioning.
• XREF: Direct setup for Beauvoir’s account of freedom and the ambiguity of situation against determinism. — connects to: Freedom is compatible with determinism when thought is part of the causal mix; Human freedom to begin new things resists the tyranny of logical deduction

Broader Connections

• Freedom is compatible with determinism when thought is part of the causal mix #corroborates (0.80)
• Human freedom to begin new things resists the tyranny of logical deduction #corroborates (0.75)