The ineffectiveness of motives itself constitutes the condition of freedom.
Evidence
This freedom which reveals itself to us in anguish can be characterized by the existence of that nothing which insinuates itself between motives and act. It is not because I am free that my act is not subject to the determination of motives; on the contrary, the structure of motives as ineffective is the condition of my freedom. If someone asks what this nothing is which provides a foundation for freedom, we shall reply that we can not describe it since it is not, but we can at least hint at its meaning by saying that this nothing is made-to-be by the human being in his relation with himself. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 242
Categorization
- DEFINE: Defines the nothing that grounds freedom: the ineffectiveness of motives, made-to-be by the human being’s relation with himself.
- XREF: The ‘motive as ineffective, a mere correlate for consciousness’ structure sets up Beauvoir’s ethics of ambiguous freedom — the motive never compels, so responsibility is total. — connects to: Freedom is synonymous with the for-itself’s lack of being — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1328; Freedom cannot choose itself and thus creates things and situation. — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1205; Freedom is the being that makes itself a lack of being through desire — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness: An Essay on…, 1331 (+1 more)
Broader Connections
- Freedom is synonymous with the for-itself’s lack of being
#expands(0.85) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1328 - Freedom is the being that makes itself a lack of being through desire
#expands(0.80) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1331 - Freedom cannot choose itself and thus creates things and situation.
#expands(0.75) — Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness, 1205