You might hear people from time to time say that you are doing something in bad or good faith. This concept is rather fascinating, and I would like to dive into it. But before I do, I have to address the person who originated this thought—Jean-Paul Sartre.
It seems that the tumultuous time of the Second World War was destined to bring about some great thinkers, and Sartre was no exception. He was a controversial person, having on one hand been favorable to Marxist politics and, on the other hand, argued that we as humans were “condemned to be free” and must create our own meaning through choices. These ideas clashed with the Marxist emphasis on class structures and material conditions, and even though he was a sympathizer with the post-war French revolutionaries, he found himself ideologically conflicted. Regardless, he was well known for his writings that challenged the fabric of long-held institutional beliefs.
My personal sentiment toward his ideas is mixed, but I am generally a fan of the existentialist movement and find the concept that certain ideas, by their very nature, could create social movements fascinating. Sartre was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1964, which he rejected and refused to accept. At the core of his writings was one universal concept: our ability to choose was absolute. His belief in our freedom to do so was so absolute that he rejected the notion of God having a plan because that would run counter to this concept. This terrified people, and many felt he was challenging the very authority of any formal religious entity that tried to present humankind with a false directive that limited their choices. In his theory, you are always free to choose. Even not choosing is a choice. This freedom brings anguish because it means we can’t blame our circumstances, upbringing, or nature. We’re responsible for who we are.
With that introduction, we can talk about Mauvaise Foi, or in English, “Bad Faith.” Jean-Paul Sartre argued that people lie to themselves to avoid the burden of freedom and responsibility. In this, he was absolutely correct, as you hear this all the time. Someone might claim, “I have no choice,” when they actually do—they just fear the consequences. Often you will hear people claim that they are not the type and therefore excuse themselves from all responsibility. I am not the healthy type, or I am not the spiritual type, or any “type” that allows them to check out of any area they want to avoid. We reject uncomfortable truths about our own agency and culpability to escape existential anxiety. What is important to consider is that it is not mere ignorance; it’s an intentional contradiction within the self, where a person knows the truth on one level but acts as if they don’t. This is what Sartre referred to as Bad Faith.
Sartre really pondered this concept and determined that it was a core human behavior. Humans all attempt to flee from the anguish of freedom. He would argue this is why people flee toward dogmatic religion, oppressive regimes, or toward ideologies that allow people to blame anything other than themselves. I remember that Sartre used an example of a French waiter. The pretentious sort of person who plays this role as an overly precise, overly polite, and highly exaggerated stereotype of the waiter in essence. He likes to claim that he is a waiter—that’s all he can be. However, the reality is that he is a free being who has chosen to be a waiter. He could walk away at any time. The waiter is pretending. By acting as if his role defines him, he denies his freedom—and that’s bad faith.
This concept explains a lot of behavior that we see in society around us. People flock toward an identity and then quickly start to claim that this identity owns them, is them, when this is all a lie that they tell themselves. This takes many forms. It could be as simple as a young woman on a date who pretends to be passive and ignores the signs of obvious romantic intent, refusing to accept that she is in the position to make a clear choice about this advance. Sartre dove into the psychology around inaction like this. Why do we choose not to make a choice when clearly a choice lies before us? The religious devotee who refuses to acknowledge inner doubt while all the while pretending to have total certainty. If you take a moment and think about the various characters in our lives, you will see examples like this everywhere.
The harder issue is to look at yourself and detect when you are lying to yourself in bad faith. This is hard. We build these walls up, and they are nearly impossible to scale, but I think there is value in Sartre’s perspective here. I have had some of the greatest breakthroughs in my life by looking at where I might be acting in bad faith and trying to pretend as if I do not have a choice in the matter. A few years ago, I made a major life-changing career decision, and it came directly as a result of the self-examination process and finding out that I was acting in bad faith—trying to pretend that I had no choice. The reality was that I did have a choice. I could quit. So I did.
The reason this is difficult is because bad faith involves a paradox. In order to lie to myself, I must know the truth. So this is a dual consciousness. You know you are free and responsible. However, you pretend to be bound, fixed, defined by your role, circumstance, or “nature.” In Sartre’s vernacular, you are the deceiver, the one who hides the truth, and you are the deceived, the one who acts as if the lie is real. This internal division allows people to escape responsibility for their actions or to cling to comfort rather than confront change or meaninglessness.
This is why you cannot handle the truth. Existential freedom is terrifying. You learn that there are no built-in rules; you are the one responsible to create meaning in your life, and you are fully responsible for who you are and who you will become. Bad faith is ultimately a defense mechanism—a way for you to hide from this overwhelming freedom. This allows you to say things like, “I had no choice,” or the one that annoys me the most, “This is just the way that I am.” Go ahead and lie to yourself and pretend that it is not up to you. You are a waiter. You are a passive wallflower. You are a this or you are a that. Lie to yourself in bad faith. Pretend that you do not have any choice in the matter.
I will leave you with the opposite message, one that I like much better. The opposite of bad faith is authenticity. Be authentic. Instead of lying to yourself, acknowledge your freedom. Take full ownership of your choices. Live in truth, even when it is painful or uncertain. Sartre never offered much advice on how to live a good life, but he might have said that we should live without lying to ourselves. Bad faith isn’t just about lying. It is about escaping from your own freedom. Sartre believed most people fall into it all the time, even unconsciously. Recognizing it is the first step toward living honestly, even if that honesty demands change, loss, or discomfort.
