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History as a Free Reorganization

Being and Nothingness

This thematic thread follows how societies make historical periods through changing projects rather than discovering a finished historical meaning.

increasingupBearing stren­gth in each eventdowndecreasing
The Past Is Not UniversalThe Past Is Not Universal from "Being and Nothingness". The Past Is Not Universal Particular Histories There is no universal past first and a set of individual pasts afterward.
The Past Is Not Universal Particular Histories There is no universal past first and a set of individual pasts afterward. A past belongs to a person, group, or instrument in relation to a present. Survival What counts as past depends on a living perspective that carries it forward.
A Common WorldA Common World from "Being and Nothingness". A Common World Shared Time People and objects become co-present within a world whose past can be discussed, remembered, and disputed.
A Common World Shared Time People and objects become co-present within a world whose past can be discussed, remembered, and disputed. Historical Bond The for-itself makes a past possible, but it does not simply invent the events that compose it.
The Meaning of 1789The Meaning of 1789 from "Being and Nothingness". The Meaning of 1789 Event and Project A political event can be interpreted as a failed disturbance or as the beginning of collective power.
The Meaning of 1789 Event and Project A political event can be interpreted as a failed disturbance or as the beginning of collective power. The later project determines its role. Historical Selection Meaning arises from the relation between the event, the present, and a future that has not yet been secured.
Interwar NamingInterwar Naming from "Being and Nothingness". Interwar Naming A Retrospective Period Calling a span of years the interval between wars depends on the later arrival of another war.
Interwar Naming A Retrospective Period Calling a span of years the interval between wars depends on the later arrival of another war. A name organizes the period after the fact. Freedom in Historiography Historical categories register a chosen perspective rather than an absolute view outside history.
History Without an UndersideHistory Without an Underside from "Being and Nothingness". History Without an Underside No View from Outside No observer can step beyond the totality of history to give it an ultimate meaning.
History Without an Underside No View from Outside No observer can step beyond the totality of history to give it an ultimate meaning. Every interpretation remains situated. Open Totality History is neither a finished object nor a fully unified subject. Its meaning remains tied to free projects.
Part Two, Chapter Two, Section I
Part Two, Chapter Two, Section I, discussion of survivors
Part Four, Chapter One, discussion of the Bastille
Part Four, Chapter One, discussion of 1918–1939
Conclusion, Section I, return to metaphysics and history