Qwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqw ertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwert yuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyui opasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopa An Investigation of the Parallels between Sartre’s Bad Faith and Nietzsche’s Slave Morality sdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfMasters Dissertation 1/1/2011 ghjklzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjStudent: James Speirs Student Number 210553574 Supervisor: Dr. Deepak Mistrey School of Philosophy and Ethics klzxcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzFaculty of Human Development and Social Sciences Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for degree of Master of Arts in the programme of xcvbnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvPhilosophy, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban I hereby declare that this work is my own. I have not willingly plagiarised and where I have used another’s work I have stated so. bnmqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbn mqwertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmq____________________________________ wertyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwe rtyuiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwerty uiopasdfghjklzxcvbnmqwertyui Abstract The following dissertation examines Sartre’s notion of bad faith before identifying parallels found in Nietzsche’s Genealogy of Morals. Bad faith is often construed as lying to oneself; however, this entails an individual being both the deceiver and deceived which presents a number of paradoxes. By reconceptualising bad faith as self-deception rather than lying to oneself these paradoxes are avoided. Nietzsche’s Genealogy examines the development of modern morality and explains its genesis through identifying a specific psychological tendency, namely, ressentiment. Ressentiment is central to the Genealogy as it results in the idealisation of asceticism and the development of the bad conscience into guilt. These are core elements of what Nietzsche terms slave morality. By exposing ressentiment as a manifestation of bad faith this dissertation highlights the self-deception lying at the foundation of slave morality. Nietzsche believes that it is slave morality which predominantly constitutes modern morality, and manifestations of bad faith in Nietzsche’s account of modern morality therefore give credence to Nietzsche’s call to revalue our values. 2 Contents An Investigation of the Parallels between Sartre’s Bad Faith and Nietzsche’s Slave Morality ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 2 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 6 Chapter 1: Jean-Paul Sartre’s Bad Faith ................................................................................. 12 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 12 Being-in-itself (être-en-soi) ................................................................................................. 12 Being-for-itself (être-pour-soi)............................................................................................ 13 Facticity (facticité) ............................................................................................................... 15 Transcendence ..................................................................................................................... 16 The Nature of Consciousness .............................................................................................. 17 Freedom and Anguish .......................................................................................................... 18 Bad Faith and Lies ............................................................................................................... 21 Sartre contra Psychoanalysis ............................................................................................... 25 The Mechanism of Bad Faith .............................................................................................. 28 The Methods of Bad Faith ................................................................................................... 29 The Coquette ....................................................................................................................... 40 The Waiter ........................................................................................................................... 43 The Homosexual and the Champion of Sincerity ................................................................ 46 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 50 Chapter 2: Ressentiment .......................................................................................................... 51 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 51 Slave and Master Morality .................................................................................................. 51 “Good and Evil” “Good and Bad” – The role of Ressentiment ........................................... 56 “Bad” versus “Evil” ............................................................................................................. 61 The Creation of Values in the Slave Revolt ........................................................................ 64 3 Ressentiment vs. Resentment ............................................................................................... 68 Imaginary Revenge and the Self-deception of the Impotent ............................................... 71 Sour Grapes ......................................................................................................................... 72 Lambs and Birds of Prey, Nietzsche’s Fatalism, and Bad Faith ......................................... 74 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 82 Chapter 3: Bad Conscience and Guilt ..................................................................................... 83 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 83 Memory and the Birth of Conscience .................................................................................. 84 The Morality of Mores and Internalisation ......................................................................... 85 Psychological Hedonism and Will to Power ....................................................................... 88 Will to Power, Punishment, and Cruelty ............................................................................. 92 Debtor-Creditor Relations and Punishment ......................................................................... 95 The Development of Guilt ................................................................................................. 100 Guilt as Self-Punishment ................................................................................................... 104 The Sovereign Individual .................................................................................................. 106 “Ready-Made” Moralities and Bad Faith .......................................................................... 110 Bad Conscience and Guilt for the Sovereign Individual ................................................... 111 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 114 Chapter 4: Ascetic Ideals....................................................................................................... 115 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 115 Ascetic Ideals, Ressentiment, Slave Morality, and Bad Faith ........................................... 116 Asceticism, Psychological Hedonism, and the Will to Power .......................................... 119 Asceticism vs. Ascetic Ideals ............................................................................................ 122 The Currency of Cruelty, Self-division, and Self-deception ............................................. 123 Philosophers ...................................................................................................................... 126 Priests ................................................................................................................................ 130 The Majority of Mortals .................................................................................................... 132 4 Ascetic Ideals, Bad Conscience, and the Development of Guilt ....................................... 134 Priestly Suppositions and Bad Faith .................................................................................. 137 Christian Will to Truth and Self-Overcoming ................................................................... 138 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................... 139 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................. 141 Bibliography .........................................................................................................................