Like Descartes and Locke, Sarte is a dualist. He thinks there are only two kinds of substances that exist: Being and Nothingness. Being includes physical bodies in the world, including our own bodies. Nothingness is our consciousness. Nothingness determines itself and is radically free. Being is externally determined. As humans, we are both Being and Nothingness. Our consciousness is free even if our physical existence is determined by external forces. One of the results of our dual nature is bad faith. Bad faith means that you always tend to get wrapped up either in your Being or your Nothingness. If you think you have more freedom than you actually do, you're lost in your transcendence. If you think you have less freedom than you actually do, you're lost in your facticity. Bad faith is a basic structure for humanity. We cannot escape it.
Sartre recognizes that many people associate existentialism with despair. Indeed, this is not a necessary consequence of buying into the notion that for humans existence precedes essence (our actions define who we are). Rather, despair just seems to be a common response to the feelings of responsibility that arise when we recognize that we are in control of deciding our own character
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