Arrested Development and Philosophy_ They've Made a Huge Mistake - Kristopher G. Phillips [21]
Socrates once said, with his life on the line, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”1 But he never looked at the results of that examination. (His fellow citizens executed him.) So what if someone examined his life, and found it not worth living? In that case, it would be better to avoid the examination in the first place. In fact, that’s just the way that Gob Bluth lives his life, and we should respect him for it.
In “S.O.B.s,” Gob pretends to be a waiter, only to find himself really being a waiter. This scene reminds me of Jean-Paul Sartre’s well-known example of the waiter in the café, the one who is just a bit too much like a waiter—too eager, too concerned, too perfectly waitery. As Sartre describes him,
His movement is quick and forward, a little too precise, a little too rapid. He comes toward the patrons with a step a little too quick. He bends forward a little too eagerly; his voice, his eyes express an interest a little too solicitous for the order of the customer.2
Sartre gives this example to illustrate his concept of bad faith. But, as we shall see, Gob’s initial act in “S.O.B.s” is not an act of bad faith. It is only later, when Gob really decides that he is a waiter that he enters into bad faith.
Gob, in fact, lives large parts of his life in bad faith. He tells himself that he is a great magician, that he can run the Bluth Company, that he loves Marta, and that everyone loves him, and he acts according to those beliefs. Each of these acts, among many others, is an instance of bad faith. Gob tries constantly to fill various roles for which he is simply unsuited.
Gob isn’t alone in bad faith, however. The rest of the Bluth clan keep him company on occasion. But outside of a few isolated incidents, such as when Buster bashes his mother in order to fit in with his siblings (“Bringing Up Buster”), the Bluths are largely too self-involved to be in bad faith. The only exception (aside from Gob, of course) is Michael, who we discover in the final season is living in bad faith about precisely how self-involved he is (“The Ocean Walker”). Gob is unique, a perfect case study of bad faith. Most people occasionally enter into bad faith, but Gob lives there—and good thing, too!
Gob is wiser for it. Not only does Gob’s bad faith make him happier, it also makes him a better person. For Gob, the ancient wisdom must be altered: Don’t know thyself, Gob.
Gob Isn’t Just Deceiving Himself
In Being and Nothingness, Sartre reluctantly identifies bad faith and self-deception. He says, “We shall willingly grant that bad faith is a lie to oneself, on condition that we distinguish the lie to oneself from lying in general.”3 There is good reason for his reluctance—when we think a bit, we can see that self-deception and bad faith are two distinct concepts. As tempted as we may be to accuse Gob (or any other Bluth) of self-deception, such an accusation wouldn’t be correct. Gob lives in bad faith, but no one can live in self-deception.
So, what makes self-deception impossible? After all, it’s fairly common to say that so-and-so is just deceiving himself. But common and correct aren’t the same thing. Don’t deceive yourself about deception: if the person being deceived already knows the truth, then the deception has no chance of succeeding. When Buster deceives Gob into believing that George Sr. is controlling Larry (George’s surrogate while he is under house arrest), the entire act is based on Gob not knowing the truth about who is actually controlling Larry (“Mr. F”). Had Gob realized that Buster was giving Larry his orders, he would never have been fooled. In the case of so-called self-deception, a single person would have to know the truth of the matter (in order to deceive) and not know it (in order to be deceived). Hence, self-deception isn’t possible.
So, if bad faith is possible, we must distinguish it from self-deception more clearly than Sartre did. This can be done fairly easily.4 Bad faith is existential; self-deception is epistemic. That means that while self-deception is about