Authenticity and Bad Faith

Conceptual Overview and Discussion

Sartre was largely concerned with freedom, responsibility, and ethics, and he explored these themes through his plays, novels, and his best-known philosophic treatise, Being and Nothingness: A Phenomenological Ontology. Crucial to understanding Sartre's notion of how one is to act authentically (in Sartre's terms, this would be seen as acting in good faith) is understanding the fundamental nature of how we exist in the world. In his ontology, Sartre describes two main groups of things: those that are so-called being-in-itself things that do not possess freedom of choice (e.g., a rock) and being-for-itself things that do possess freedom and choice (i.e., human beings). Creatures of free choice commit bad faith when they act as though they do not possess this innate freedom. This is therefore seen as acting in a fundamentally inauthentic manner, based upon the denial of one's own innate ability and freedom to make choices.

According to Sartre, there are a variety of ways in which an individual may act in bad faith. These examples he places in some broad categories. For instance, simply denying our own freedom of choice is one way to act in bad faith. Beyond this simple denial of freedom, Sartre also details a number of social situations that represent nuanced ways in which we might act according to the wishes of other people, thereby effectively denying ourselves our innate freedom of choice. These social situations are broadly termed being-for-others. In essence, to deny either our own facticity (i.e., the given aspects of our situation, such as where we were born or our past choices) or our transcendence (our ability to choose to become something different from what we are) is to act in bad faith. If we privilege one aspect of our being-for-itself (facticity or transcendence) over the other aspect of our existence as creatures of choice, we act in an inauthentic manner. In Sartre's philosophy, to accept and to actively make decisions based upon the sometimes ambiguous interplay between these two characteristics of our existence is to act authentically and therefore in good faith.

Application

There are a few notable examples of the specific application of authenticity and the ethics of good and bad faith in the broad range of case studies. Perhaps unsurprisingly there is evidence of the use of the ideas surrounding freedom and authenticity contained in Sartre's own works. These works of philosophy, plays, and other artistic works are prime examples of the existentialist idea of “committed literature,” which is in itself a type of case study.

One of Sartre's best-known cases for the examination of the bad faith trap found through being-for-others is found in Being and Nothingness: A Phenomenological Ontology. Sartre spent much of his time writing in cafés, so his use of the particular case of a waiter acting in bad faith is not surprising. Sartre describes how this particular waiter is playing at being what he thinks a waiter should be. The mannerisms, timing, and actions are all studied and practiced in such a way that the waiter is treating himself as though he is nothing more than a thing (in this case, a waiter in a café). This man is acting in the manner in which he knows others expect a waiter to act. He is acting as more of a waiter than any waiter could be. In doing so, the waiter is effectively denying his transcendence; by example, he is refuting his freedom to be other than a waiter. Thus, by treating himself as a being-in-itself thing (in this case as the very sort of waiter that is expected by others), he is acting without authenticity and in bad faith. Through describing this case, Sartre captures the sense of the ethical transgression found in the bad faith act of denying one's own freedom, particularly through accepting the constraints found when acting within limitations placed upon us by others.

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