lies

When we begin to talk to about Sartre, we consider his views about the theory of existentialism. Existentialism focuses on an individual and their individual freedom. An individual decides on their own actions because they are free. We are technically never “unfree”. We are in predicaments where we have choice to take an action. We have free will and the power to choose what we do. Many humans have what Sartre calls “Bad Faith”. The reading describes lying to oneself. It brings up the question: “Can you actual lie to yourself?”

Hmmm… my initial thought is: yes, but what is a lie? A lie would be telling a false statement intentionally. It is intentional because the person telling the lie knows the truth. If I tell myself a “lie”—according to definition—can I still tell myself and believe a lie. Well that changes the answer. If I know the truth all along, no I cannot tell a lie by definition. So the conclusion is no you cannot tell yourself a lie. Yet, why do we still label it as a lie?

Maybe it should be labeled as something else considering it is not a lie because we know the truth all along. I guess we could just call it false hope. We know our capabilities and intentions. We tell ourselves to believe something but we know what the outcome would most likely be. For example, I want to lose weight and I keep telling myself the weight will fall off, but I am still eating fatty foods and not exercising. That is not a lie. I know the weight is not going anywhere considering that I am not taking the action for the desired result. I know, even when telling myself that I am, that I am not going to lose weight.