Bad faith

For other uses, see Bad faith (disambiguation).
"Of two minds" redirects here. For other uses, see Of Two Minds.
Not to be confused with Heresy.

Othello (left) and Iago (right) from Othello by William Shakespeare. Much of the tragedy of the play is brought about by advice Iago gives to Othello in bad faith.

Bad faith (Latin: mala fides) is a sustained form of deception which consists of entertaining or pretending to entertain one set of feelings while acting as if influenced by another.[1] It is associated with hypocrisy, breach of contract, affectation, and lip service.[2] It may involve intentional deceit of others, or self-deception.

Some examples of bad faith include: soldiers waving a white flag and then firing when their enemy approaches to take prisoners (cf. perfidy); a company representative who negotiates with union workers while having no intent of compromising;[3] a prosecutor who argues a legal position that he knows to be false;[4] and an insurer who uses language and reasoning which are deliberately misleading in order to deny a claim.

In philosophy, after Jean-Paul Sartre's analysis of the concepts of self-deception and bad faith, the latter concept has been examined in specialized fields as it pertains to self-deception as two semi-independently acting minds within one mind, with one deceiving the other. Bad faith may be viewed in some cases to not involve deception, as in some kinds of hypochondria with actual physical manifestations. There is a question about the truth or falsity of statements made in bad faith self-deception; for example, the veracity of a hypochondriac making a complaint about their psychosomatic condition.[5]

Bad faith has been used as a term of art in diverse areas involving feminism,[6] racial supremacism,[7] political negotiation,[8] insurance claims processing, intentionality,[9] ethics,[10] existentialism, climate change denial,[11] and the law.

  1. ^ "of two hearts ... a sustained form of deception which consists in entertaining or pretending to entertain one set of feelings, and acting as if influenced by another; bad faith", Webster's Dictionary, 1913
  2. ^ "Bad faith Synonyms, Bad faith Antonyms – Thesaurus.com". www.thesaurus.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2018. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  3. ^ "Bad Faith Negotiation," Union Voice, [1].
  4. ^ Gershman, Bennett L. (13 January 2010). "Bad Faith Exception to Prosecutorial Immunity for Brady Violations". Pace Law Faculty Publications. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference PMREN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ "'The Look' as Bad Faith", Philosophy Today 36, 3 (1992), Debra B. Bergoffen, pp. 221–227.
  7. ^ Bad Faith and Antiblack Racism, L. Gordon, Humanities Press, New Jersey.
  8. ^ Definition of "bad faith" example of use – "the Republicans accused the Democrats of negotiating in bad faith", Oxford Online Dictionary
  9. ^ Good Faith and Other Essays, Joseph S. Catalano, p. 104.
  10. ^ Existentialism & Sociology: The Contribution of Jean-Paul Sartre, Gila J. Hayim.
  11. ^ Paul Krugman (11 August 2017). "The Axis of Climate Evil". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 August 2017.