I fully disagree that “bad faith” is a useless distinction, though you’re right that it’s not the only reason for disagreement or miscommunication.
Your examples show that “bad faith” comprises BOTH malign intent AND deception in the intent of a communication or negotiation. It’s saying one thing (“I surrender” or “I’ll negotiate these terms”) while maliciously meaning another (“I’m going to keep fighting” or “I am just wasting your time”). It’s more specific than EITHER “deception” or “antagonism”, because it’s a mix of the two.
Honest conflicts can be resolved (or at least explored and then fought), and non-malign confusion or miscommunication can be identified and recovered from or isolated to cooperation-without-agreement or an actual conflict. But “bad faith” combines these in a way that makes identification difficult, presumably because at least one party isn’t interested in identifying and resolving the crux.
I fully disagree that “bad faith” is a useless distinction, though you’re right that it’s not the only reason for disagreement or miscommunication.
Your examples show that “bad faith” comprises BOTH malign intent AND deception in the intent of a communication or negotiation. It’s saying one thing (“I surrender” or “I’ll negotiate these terms”) while maliciously meaning another (“I’m going to keep fighting” or “I am just wasting your time”). It’s more specific than EITHER “deception” or “antagonism”, because it’s a mix of the two.
Honest conflicts can be resolved (or at least explored and then fought), and non-malign confusion or miscommunication can be identified and recovered from or isolated to cooperation-without-agreement or an actual conflict. But “bad faith” combines these in a way that makes identification difficult, presumably because at least one party isn’t interested in identifying and resolving the crux.