Let's think about: Authenticity
Rly Makes U Think 🤔💭
Philosophical theories curated by me, interpreted by all of us, authored by the folks below.
[Description: White background with black line drawing of a person hunched over, throwing up. The text reads: me remembering how I was living in the moment when I could have been exploiting my experience for content.]
Authenticity
What do we mean when we say “authentic”? Often it suggests embodying being genuine or true to yourself. It happens when our actions are consistent with our values. Think about where we are right now in terms of the many ways in which we behave and present ourselves, and how we absorb the way others (including organizations) present themselves to us.
Everyone is the other and no one is himself.
– Martin Heidegger, Being and TimeYou can’t take everything with you when you leave on the midlife journey. You are moving away. Away from institutional claims and other people’s agenda. Away from external valuations and accreditations, in search of an inner validation. You are moving out of roles and into the self.
– Gail Sheehy, Passages: Predictable Crises of Adult LifeMan is condemned to be free; because once thrown into the world, he is responsible for everything he does.
– Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and NothingnessIf other people do not understand our behavior—so what? Their request that we must only do what they understand is an attempt to dictate to us… Mostly they resent our freedom and our courage to be ourselves. We owe nobody an explanation or an accounting, as long as our acts do not hurt or infringe on them. How many lives have been ruined by this need to "explain," which usually implies that the explanation be "understood," i.e. approved. Let your deeds be judged, and from your deeds, your real intentions, but know that a free person owes an explanation only to himself—to his reason and his conscience—and to the few who may have a justified claim for explanation.
– Erich Fromm, The Art of Being
Heidegger tells us here that who we are is made up of those surrounding us, so being “ourselves” is just a mixture of others' identities. Sheehy tells us in order to embark on a journey of growth, that we can only do so if we leave behind the roles others have forced onto us. That can be roles forced upon us at our jobs, at school, communities, in our familial, platonic, and romantic relationships that no longer serve us. Sartre reminds us of the immense weight that comes with being free – an element of authenticity – and challenges a common perspective that total freedom is light and easy. Fromm tells us that we owe no one an explanation for our being except ourselves.
Authenticity and inauthenticity don't operate on a binary of better or worse. Each one has limits to its usefulness, and it is beneficial to open up to the possibilities that inauthenticity is a mechanism for survival, such as wearing a different attitude at our jobs, tucking away how we really feel that day. If we are starved for it, total authenticity may inflict more harm than help. Either way, authenticity is an interdependent, ongoing responsibility that requires our constant re-evaluation so that we don't infringe upon others' ability to exist, and awareness for when our actions aren't in alignment with our values. Questions for you:
Is it possible for authenticity to exist when being declared or marketed? In what ways do I declare my own authenticity?
Are there limits to authenticity?
Are there areas in my life where I must exercise inauthenticity? Am I okay with it? Why?
How have others contributed to my own embodiment of authenticity?
What are examples of my own personal authenticity that I can take full responsibility for? How do I know that wasn’t a result of someone else’s actions?
How can embodying authenticity be an ongoing responsibility?
Philosophy can benefit us all by encouraging us to step outside our existing beliefs and consider what’s possible. It's an opportunity for personal expansion, and the practice of critical thinking is incredibly necessary (not just right now, but always). This newsletter is a bite-sized curation of topics relevant to all of us, and note-worthy thinkers with a short interpretation from myself.
Don’t worry about conceiving something “deep”, “intellectual”, or “objective”, but rather whether your thoughts are really your own. Ultimately, I would hope this curated newsletter helps you realize that personal autonomy starts off with thinking about it, first. Enjoy!!! 🥳 🧠
About me: I'm an enterprising, queer Filipina based in Toronto, Canada. I’m working on my Philosophy BA at TorontoMet University and building nonsequitur, a social impact start-up. My favourite things to talk about are relationships, asexuality, video games, entrepreneurship, memes, and pop culture. She/they.
Disclaimer: This isn’t propaganda. Also, this is really fun for me. Feel free to email me back what you think about the content, or how our perspectives differ, but please know that doesn't guarantee I'll respond because, like you, I am a human with finite energy.