Bad Faith, Bullshit, and Belonging

This talk outlines the idea of bullshit (which Harry Frankfurt defined as making claims without knowing or caring whether they are true) as it is developed in the existential tradition. The talk will first outline Kierkegaard's idea of 'chatter' and Heidegger's idea of inauthentic 'idle talk' as modes of inauthenticity motivated by angst –– essentially, identifying as one of the anonymous 'public' or 'they' to evade the burden of responsibility for one's own outlook. Next it will show how Beauvoir develops this idea in her concept of 'popular wisdom' to encompass not only the motivation for agreeing with the public whatever they say, but also the content of the public's aphorisms as all implicitly denying that same burden of responsibility. Finally, I will show how Sartre develops this idea further in his analysis of antisemitism, where bullshit becomes weaponised to divide 'them' from 'us' and to directly undercut any responsible attitude to assessing the veracity of that division.

Professor Jonathan Webber is Head of Philosophy at Cardiff University, President of the UK Sartre Society, and Director of the Mind Association. His anthology The Penguin Book of Existentialist Philosophy is published on 13 November 2025.