Bad Faith
Sartrean concept of denying one's freedom and responsibility through self-deception. Bad faith involves identifying with fixed roles or blaming circumstances for choices. The waiter who over-identifies with his role exemplifies bad faith. We flee from freedom's burden into comforting fictions. Bad faith denies that existence precedes essence—that we create ourselves. Overcoming bad faith requires acknowledging radical freedom. Tension between facticity (given conditions) and transcendence (freedom) creates anxiety bad faith avoids. Complete authenticity may be impossible.
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