Help with には and にとって

Question

I need help understanding why にとって cannot be used in this circumstance:

その仕事は私｛には/*にとって｝出来ない。 ( * denotes unacceptable)

This is what I read:

にとって cannot be used when it marks an experiencer or agent

But I get confused when this sentence is acceptable:

これは我々にとって無視できない問題だ。

Isn't 我々 an agent? 我々 is the one who is doing the ignoring right? So what am I understanding wrongly?

Answer 1

にとって 'As from the point of view of ' is a sentence modifier. The sentence has to be meaningful without it, and it implies that its truth depends on whose point of view it is described from.

これは(無視できない)問題だ
'This is a(n) (unignorable) problem.'

我我にとって、これは(無視できない)問題だ
'For us, this is a(n) (unignorable) problem.'

これは、我我にとって、(無視できない)問題だ　　[これは can be moved to the front.]
'Regarding this, from the point of view of us, it is a(n) (unignorable) problem.'

に in question here is a dative case marker, which optionally marks the subject of the embedded clause of a potential verb.

我我がこれを無視する
'We ignore this.'

[我我{が/に}これを無視]できる　[する is deleted before できる due to the irregularity of potential form.]
'It is possible that we ignore this.'

これは、我我{が/に}無視できる　　[これは can be topicalized and moved to the front.]
'Regarding this, it is possible that we ignore it.'

As usual in Japanese, the subject can be omitted, and be understood implicitly:

これは、(我我{が/に})無視できる
'It is possible that we ignore this.'

Attaching にとって to this sentence does not work semantically because the possibility is independent of the point of view.

* 我我にとって、これは(我我{が/に})無視できる
　'For us, it is possible that we ignore this.'