Authenticity (philosophy)
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Authenticity is a technical term in existentialist philosophy. In this philosophy, the conscious self is seen as coming to terms with being in a material world and with encountering external forces, pressures and influences which are very different from, and other than, itself. Authenticity is the degree to which one is true to one's own personality, spirit, or character, despite these pressures. Existentialists see this process in different ways.
[edit] Criticisms of authenticity
Authenticity has its paradoxical components. Sartre illustrated these in his extensive writings, pointing to the conflict between seeing the self as unique and different from the world, but the self is embedded in a world which clearly contains other such beings.
Stated as a doctrine authenticity can be thought to be self-defeating. This is because it is thereby classified and becomes part of the non-self, an object of perhaps methodical study among others. This is opposed to the notion of the individual self which seeks its own solution independently of competing external ideologies.
Another criticism is that the solution to Sartre's difficulties involves some compromise to allow unique individuals to co-exist in a way which is acceptable to all of them. Therefore public ethics or morality may be a limit on authenticity.
Because authenticity is such a slippery concept, and because it can never be rigorously defined, it can be seen as a threat to rationality or to Enlightenment ideas about the transparency of laws.
[edit] Authenticity today
British philosophy has seen authenticity as part of the continuation of the Continental dualist position stated by Descartes. He held that reality consists of two kinds of things, mental and physical substances, which are fundamentally different from each other. Authenticity is based on a clear distinction between self and the other, non-self, or world.
American philosophy has eagerly pursued the authenticity ideal, seeing it as central to the values of individuality and independence prevalent in American society.
Those who advocate social reform value the study of authenticity since it can provide a radical manifesto and an overview of the shortcomings of social structures.
[edit] References
- Charles Taylor The Ethics of Authenticity; ISBN 0-674-26863-6; Harvard UP 1992
- Walter Kaufmann, whose life increasingly focused on a search for authenticity.
- Authentic Business is a non-profit British online community exploring doing business with purpose
- Stagisblog is a blog run by communication consultants discussing the paradoxial idea of the 'authentic organizational identity'
