negativity-and-non-being

This chapter explores the foundational condition of human action as freedom, emphasizing that action is inherently intentional and involves the projection of consciousness toward a desired but currently non-existent state. Sartre argues that no factual state alone can motivate action; rather, it is the consciousness's ability to conceive of a lack or negation within reality that enables the formation of projects and the exercise of freedom. The chapter critiques deterministic and indifference-based views of freedom, highlighting the necessity of consciousness's negative power to separate from and reinterpret the present and past in light of future possibilities.