Consent, Refusal, Freedom

The two basic responses to a Request are Consent and Refusal, each of which is independent of the Request.  Now, the negativity entailed in a Refusal is immediately with respect to corresponding Consent.  Thus, the example illustrates the flaw in Sartre's thesis that Freedom is essentially Negation.  For example, he infers from the fact that the Consciousness of X is not X, that the Consciousness of X is equivalent to the Negation of X.  But, the example suggests his inference suppresses the positive content of the Consciousness of X, i. e. a representation of X, resulting in the infinite hall of negative mirrors with which he struggles in his analysis of Reflection.  Instead, the more modest characterization of Consent and Refusal as each 'free' because 'different' from Request, avoids that futile labyrinth.