In thinking about existentialism, one of the main idea’s behind
existentialism is this notion of bad faith, self deception.
We see this self deception all the time, both publicly
and privately and we see bad faith all the time both publicly
and privately. The idea of self deception is fairly obvious but
the notion of bad faith seems to require some description.
From wiki: “Bad faith is a philosophical concept utilized by existentialist
philosophers Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre to describe the
phenomenon in which human beings, under pressure from social forces,
adapt false values and disown their innate freedom, hence acting
inauthentically”
We see this phenomenon all the time. When in a group of people and
people go around the room to ask everyone, do you believe in god?
Most people will answer, yes, I believe in god, just to fit into the group
or to be part of the group. It takes courage to answer no in such a group
situation. We have adapted the belief in god to fit into a situation.
We act falsely if we don’t believe in god and say we do believe in god
to fit into some social situation.
This act of self deception occurs all the time. We see IQ45 proclaiming
himself “a great president” and that is an act of self deception.
We see IQ45 saying he knows more about the military then
actual military types like Generals and West Point grads.
He knows these things without any actual study of military
tactics or goals or procedures. That is another form of
self deception. Thinking we are something that we are not.
Thinking that I am brave or smart or courageous when I am not,
any of these things is an act of self deception.
We engage in self deception and bad faith all the time.
One, self deception is an attempt too either to make
oneself feel better about oneself or to hide something
from you own heart. Bad fait is an attempt to hide something
from others, to deceive others.
Self deception and bad faith are
attempts to deceive, either yourself or others.
So the question becomes, why is this understanding about
self deception and bad faith so important?
Why does it matter that we engage in self deception or in bad faith?
Kropotkin