Ever caught yourself saying, “I had no choice”? Existentialists would lean in and ask: was it fate—or was it you, dodging the weight of freedom?
WHAT SARTRE MEANT BY “BAD FAITH”
In Sartre’s existentialism, you’re not born with a fixed essence like a spoon is “made to scoop.” You’re a project—always becoming—because you choose, even when you don’t feel like you do.
Bad faith (mauvaise foi) is self-deception with a purpose: it lets you treat yourself as a thing with a set script. You hide from anxiety by pretending you’re only a role (“just a manager”), a mood (“I’m just an angry person”), or a rule (“policy made me do it”).
““Man is condemned to be free.””
— Jean-Paul Sartre
THE WAITER WHO PLAYS WAITER (AND THE REST OF US)
Sartre’s famous example is a café waiter who performs “waiter-ness” a little too perfectly—overly brisk, overly polite, as if he were a wind-up toy designed for carrying trays. The problem isn’t professionalism; it’s the quiet claim: “I am nothing but this.”
We do the same when we cling to labels like armor. Roles are real and useful, but bad faith turns them into cages: “I’m the responsible one,” “I’m the creative one,” “I’m the victim,” “I’m the rebel.” The comfort is immediate; the cost is your agency.
Bad faith isn’t ordinary lying. It’s a split performance where you’re both actor and audience—believing the excuse just enough to stop questioning it.
OBJECTS, EXCUSES, AND “FACTICITY”
Existentialists distinguish between facticity (the given facts of your situation) and transcendence (your capacity to interpret, respond, and choose). You didn’t pick your upbringing, body, or era—but you constantly pick what those facts mean in your life.
Bad faith happens in two classic directions: either you reduce yourself to facticity (“I’m only my past; I can’t change”) or you float above it (“Nothing limits me; consequences don’t apply”). Authenticity isn’t denial of limits—it’s owning your choices within them.
- Turns a role into an identity: “I am just this job.”
- Uses fate, rules, or personality as a shield: “I couldn’t help it.”
- Overstates either limits (helplessness) or freedom (recklessness).
- Treats roles as chosen commitments, not your whole self.
- Admits motives: “I chose the easier path, and here’s why.”
- Balances facts and freedom: “These are my constraints; this is my move.”
““Freedom is what you do with what’s been done to you.””
— Jean-Paul Sartre (often paraphrased)
Replace “I had to” with “I chose to,” and finish the sentence honestly. If it stings, you’ve found the spot where freedom was hiding.
- Bad faith is self-deception that treats you like a fixed object rather than a choosing subject.
- Roles, labels, and excuses become dangerous when they erase your agency: “I’m just this.”
- Authenticity means owning choices inside real constraints—neither helpless nor untouchable.
- A practical test: rephrase “I had no choice” as “I chose,” and notice what becomes clearer.