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state in which soldiers become instruments of the state and obey the orders of their
superiors. On the other, we expect them to differentiate between circumstances in
which they should disobey and assert their own values.
Ultimately, however, the reason we cannot accept this defence is because we recognise
that the conscious intention of an individual can never be fully subsumed by an external
objectification process. Our response acknowledges that the total adoption of the
agentic state, or complete objectification and elimination of the subjective self is not
possible. Reflection on Milgram’s experiments and military methods demonstrate that
external influences cannot be ignored. They may be complicit in, and even encourage
our self-deception. As Seedhouse explains:
Sartre’s idea is as naïve as it is penetrating. It takes no account of
genetics, for instance, and fails to appreciate that no one has infinite
potential. Nor does it recognise how greatly people can be constrained
by external circumstances and events.
Seedhouse, 1998, p. 136
There exists different levels of self-deception; between individuals, within individuals
in different contexts and which may be influenced by external factors. But the
deception, however great the influence, can never be total.
Milgram’s research demonstrates that there are different levels of bad faith which we
build like a shell around our conscious, free-thinking selves. The more we deceive
ourselves, the thicker the shell becomes. Like the mass of laws, rules and conventions
that we employ collectively as society to constrain our values, individually, we employ
modes of objectification to deny our subjective selves; our values. As Sartre suggests,
eventually we may become so entrenched in this way of thinking that bad faith
becomes a way of life. However, the veneer we build remains just that; a veneer. We
know that beneath the surface our conscious awareness can never be fully subsumed by
objectification however effective the self-deception. While we live and think there is
always a conscious awareness. And while we have conscious awareness, we have a
choice whether to opt for good faith and authenticity, or whether to be in bad faith,
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