Types of “Bad Faith”
Introduction
Sartre’s narrative about bad faith provides insights into the deceptive nature of human life. It is an inauthentic lifestyle that causes individuals to evade their responsibilities of understanding their identity. Ideally, the bad faith indicates the need for people to transcend their situations and realize how they should act like humans and traits to avoid. In other words, individuals should strive to get out of bad faith by having self-control and projecting the realities of their lives.
Types of Bad Faith
Bad faith is an attempt at self-deception and is also a normal aspect of many people. It eliminates the need for freedom and responsibility that allows one to embrace authentic values, beliefs, and practices. The types of bad faith also reveal the need for people to deal with anxieties whenever challenges emerge (Tirsahar 1). Ideally, individuals are responsible for their lives to enable them to create meaning and have the freedom to choose what to make of their existence based on personal values and standards. In other words, Sartre’s approach to bad faith urges individuals to be authentic by being true to their personality and coming to terms with internal and external pressures (Pydi). Sartre’s patterns of bad faith explore the double property of people based on facticity and transcendence. The former reveals the realities of human life based on an individual’s past actions, childhood, physical traits, and schooling. In this case, the past is the totality of the events that happened to a person. On the other hand, transcendence shows the conscious ability to surpass the current situation and represents the future. Escaping bad faith requires individuals to coordinate the notions of facticity and transcendence since the two need co-exist to avoid self-deception.
One aspect of living in bad faith involves affirming the past and denying immediate behavior or choices. In this case, one makes themselves falsely believe not to be what they are (Sartre 57). Sartre’s example of a waiter in a café provides insights into the facticity type of bad faith. The case reveals the way people pretend that they do not have the freedom to make choices hence the decision to adopt social and organizational roles and value systems. The adopted traits are alien to individuals’ nature as conscious beings. In this regard, the waiter commits himself to the role he currently plays in a similar manner an actor behaves in a performance. The quick and forward movement, as well as a solicitous expression of interest for a customer order, shows the rapidity of things that is a denial of transcendence (Sartre 59). In other words, the waiter acts in bad faith by choosing to conform to everything a waiter should be. The waiter’s example reflects people’s decision to confuse social functions with their identity such that they act against their interests and beliefs.
The example of a woman on a date provides insights into an affirmation of facticity. The awareness about the man’s intentions to flirt requires her to decide the advances (Sartre 55). Instead, she chooses to direct compliments at herself as a conscious person. She delays accepting advances, thereby reflecting her freedom to make decisions. The failure to know what she wants convinces her to restrict conduct to the prevailing circumstances.
The second type of bad faith relates to the affirmation of transcendence. In this case, Sartre argued that people go beyond their immediate circumstances towards a future state. For example, a gay may deny the concrete realities of his status by refusing to draw the implications of his acts. Ideally, the gay could claim that he is sleeping with other men at the moment, but intends to avoid such behavior later. The example reveals how individuals act in bad faith by ignoring their history and perceiving themselves as wholly transcendent. On the other hand, the friends to a gay may also exhibit bad faith when they refer him to his facticity while ignoring the transcendence that allows him to adopt a new behavior. In other words, one can deny their sexuality and state that their conduct was a mistake to escape society’s judgment. The refusal to accept sexuality means denying facticity and acting in bad faith. Therefore, bad faith is the rejection of responsibility and denial of freedom, consequently making it an immediate and permanent threat to individuals. The example reveals the transcendental nature of human beings whereby they lie to others despite being aware of the truth which they are hiding. The types of bad faith show that individuals are less knowledgeable of the choices they make because of the inability to reflect on goals and perception of a meaningful life. It is crucial to strive for personal awareness and understanding of life decisions to realize the ultimate responsibility of living in good faith. Further, one should understand the influence of external factors on their choices to reinforce consciousness about prioritizing decisions and plotting their best course for their lives.
Acting in a Way that Avoids being in “bad faith.”
Individuals can act in good faith by acknowledging their deceptive practices and adopting authentic behavior, beliefs, and attitudes. However, events in the modern world encourage people to make decisions that expose them to the consequences of bad faith. For instance, the self-destructive paths reflected through socio-economic damages contribute to persistent forms of bad faith (Weber). Sartre’s insights into bad faith reveal the need for individuals to act in transcendence such that they can correct the negative aspects of their facticity. The link between bad faith and decision to evade responsibility for understanding one’s authentic self indicates the need for individuals to have control over their lives. The efforts encourage them to adopt genuine traits and gain a greater understanding of their choices. Further, the decision to avoid being in bad faith aligns with acknowledging freedom and setting responsibilities that accompany it. In other words, an ethical approach to dealing with bad faith allows individuals to approach situations responsibly (Weber). Ethical practices elicit reflection and assessment of situations before making decisions. One should reflect on the beliefs they hold true and use throughout their lives. The process allows them to be aware of daily routines and implications on their lives and others. Individuals understand impediments to change and have a rational attitude to balance facticity and transcendence. Reflection also allows them to have a sense of purpose and a better view of the world.
Sartre’s narratives about the types of bad faith provide insights into the actions required to enhance self-awareness of situations that expose individuals to bad decisions. Avoiding bad faith means putting trust in choices and responsibilities that create a balance between facticity and transcendence. It also calls for individuals to accept the freedom and genuinely consider the implications of their actions to avoid lying to ourselves and putting blames elsewhere (Weber). In other words, people should strive to understand their lives better and determine the practices that allow them to internalize their ideal experience. Further, acting in good faith requires people to understand the implications of social, economic, and environmental factors on their decisions and the need to adopt behavior and practices that support the human species’ long-term preservation. In this context, individuals can avoid self-destructive paths that accelerate their irresponsibility and prevent them from living genuine lives.
Conclusion
Living in bad faith reflects individuals’ inability to be aware of their freedom and choices and having a sense of purpose to enable them to live meaningful lives. The practice limits people from acknowledging their freedom and responsibilities and using them to make decisions that allow them to live authentically. Despite the challenges of living in bad faith, avoidance is possible through collective efforts to alter detrimental realities. In this case, the human race should embrace its freedom to enable them to challenge the status quo and create a balance between past and future choices. However, internal and external pressure in the modern world makes bad faith inevitable. Everyone is vulnerable to bad faith because of the inability to violate one’s freedom. Ideally, individuals who seek to avoid bad faith should focus more on acknowledging their responsibility for choosing bad faith and avoiding self-deception. Therefore, avoiding bad faith requires individuals to plot the ideal course characterized by accepting freedom, reflecting on choices, and handling negative external influences.
Works Cited
Pydi, Aakash. “Jean-Paul Sartre: The Concept of Bad Faith and its Role in Ethical Analysis.” Medium 10 March 2018. <https://medium.com/@aakashpydi/jean-paul-sartre-the-concept-of-bad-faith-and-its-role-in-ethical-analysis-93f4553fa242>.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. Being and Nothingness. Philosophical Library, 1943.
Tirsahar, Paria. “Bad Faith an Exploration of the Work of Sartre.” Psychology and Behavioral Science International Journal, vol. 5, no. 3, 2017, pp. 1-3. <https://juniperpublishers.com/pbsij/pdf/PBSIJ.MS.ID.555664.pdf>.
Weber, Brenden. “Sartre: On Living in Bad Faith: And the Power of Living in Good Faith.” Medium 3 December 2019. <https://medium.com/the-philosophers-stone/sartre-on-living-in-bad-faith-e7fc28314dcd>.