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The Persistence of Freedom in Action

Being and Nothingness

This thread follows the argument that acts are intentional, motivated, and situated without being mechanically determined.

increasingupBearing stren­gth in each eventdowndecreasing
Action Has an EndAction Has an End from "Being and Nothingness". Action Has an End Intentional Conduct An act is not simply a movement that happens. It modifies the world in view of an end understood by the agent.
Action Has an End Intentional Conduct An act is not simply a movement that happens. It modifies the world in view of an end understood by the agent. Meaning The end organizes means and gives the act its identity. Without intention, bodily movement does not count as an action.
Lack Before ActionLack Before Action from "Being and Nothingness". Lack Before Action A New State Imagined Action begins when a state of affairs is apprehended as lacking something. The desired result is not yet real.
Lack Before Action A New State Imagined Action begins when a state of affairs is apprehended as lacking something. The desired result is not yet real. Nihilation The agent must withdraw from the given and posit an absent possibility. This reveals the role of nothingness within practical life.
Causes Need an EndCauses Need an End from "Being and Nothingness". Causes Need an End Situation Reinterpreted A fact becomes a cause only when a project makes it relevant.
Causes Need an End Situation Reinterpreted A fact becomes a cause only when a project makes it relevant. The same circumstance can support different actions under different ends. Freedom The agent does not receive the cause as a command; freedom organizes the world in which the cause has meaning.
Motives and the ProjectMotives and the Project from "Being and Nothingness". Motives and the Project Subjective and Objective A motive is the non-thetic side of an act's project, while a cause is an objective feature disclosed in the…
Motives and the Project Subjective and Objective A motive is the non-thetic side of an act's project, while a cause is an objective feature disclosed in the situation. They arise together. No Deterministic Weight Neither motive nor cause carries a fixed force. Their importance depends on the end that freedom pursues.
The Will as ReflectionThe Will as Reflection from "Being and Nothingness". The Will as Reflection Means and Ends The will reflects on how to pursue ends already posited by a more original project.
The Will as Reflection Means and Ends The will reflects on how to pursue ends already posited by a more original project. It does not create freedom from nothing. Result Voluntary and passionate actions are both expressions of freedom, distinguished by the way consciousness relates to its project.
Part Four, Chapter One, Section I
Part Four, Chapter One, discussion of desideratum
Part Four, Chapter One, discussion of causes and motives
Part Four, Chapter One, later account of motivation
Part Four, Chapter One, discussion of will