Authenticity involves actively choosing and creating our own essence, transcending societal pressures.
Authenticity requires questioning expectations and making choices based on personal desires and reflections.
Deep dives
Authenticity as Creating Your Essence
Authenticity, according to Simone de Beauvoir, involves creating an authentic life by actively choosing and creating our essence. From an existential perspective, essence is not predetermined but is something we create. It is the process of transcending the facts of our lives and expressing our freedom to become who we choose to be. For example, learning a new language allows us to transcend our language facticity. Authenticity involves reflecting on societal pressures and untangling them to make choices that align with our true selves.
Authenticity and Questioning Expectations
Authenticity also involves questioning expectations and making choices based on our own desires and reflections. It is about being self-aware and consciously choosing our actions rather than operating on autopilot. For example, choosing to learn Italian instead of French can be seen as a more authentic choice when it aligns with personal desires, even if previous expectations and influences encouraged learning French. Authentic choices can still be consistent with past experiences and influences, but they are chosen with intention and reflection.
Authenticity, Rebellion, and Personal Freedom
Authenticity entails rebellion against societal expectations and restrictions, allowing individuals to live fully and stretch themselves into an open, poetic future. The French existentialist Simone de Beauvoir believed that rebellion was vital for authenticity. However, it is acknowledged that not everyone has equal freedom to make choices due to external constraints. Scholars have argued that survival, resilience, and caution are sometimes more crucial than rebellion for marginalized communities. Nevertheless, embracing authentic choices and respecting freedom are seen as essential components of authenticity.
Skye Cleary approaches questions of human authenticity throught he lens of French Existentialism, and particularly through Simone de Beauvoir's thought. She is in conversation with Nigel Warburton.
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