Bad Faith

In class, we discussed the topic of having "bad faith". Originally when Dr. Johnson asked us, "What is bad faith?" most of the class was silent. It was my understanding that to act in bad faith is to trust someone despite their previous irresponsible behavior or undesirable traits. For an example, my idea of a person acting in bad faith is a roommate allowing his or her roommate to continue living in their home despite this person's inability to pay rent. You hope that the person will get a job and contribute even though all of their previous behavior shows that more than likely they will not pay rent. Perhaps a devoted wife continuing to believe her cheating husband will be faithful and committed to her despite his lack of action to prove otherwise. These were my previous understanding of acting in bad faith.


Sarte's definition closely aligns with my idea in the sense that it is a lie to oneself. I believed acting in "bad faith" was lying to yourself about the ability of another person. Sarte literally means that we are lying to our self about our actual self. We talked about the TGIF waiter who says that he or she is just a waiter in the way that a chair is just a chair. This is simply not true. We have the freedom to be and do whatever we want to do (within reason). While the chair is simply a chair and will always be just a chair. As humans we take for granted the freedoms that we have everyday. Even a slave or prisoner has the freedom to think, feel, and imagine.