Authenticity: Being Oneself

The anxiety that we are, in some way, not being ourselves can seem both puzzling and all too familiar. This worry is also an anxiety that has been explored by many of the great philosophers and became in the twentieth century a central theme in existentialism, as the worry that our lives are 'inauthentic'. But what is authenticity? What is to be oneself? And if one isn't oneself, what can one do about it? Denis McManus gives a talk on these issues of authenticity at the University of Southampton a few years ago as part of the Philosophy Café series.

#Philosophy #Existentialism #Heidegger

[alwaysgreatusa]

Alienation is no less a danger to authenticity (or self-hood) than is conformity . This is because, by his very nature, man is a social animal. Therefore, those who are alienated from society -- either because of being castigated, exiled, or by means of their own choice -- tend to suffer from deep emotional problems, including losing their grip on reality, and even, some cases, losing themselves.

[somethingyousaid]

I would never have wanted to know myself under these conditions. Honestly, I can only resent the hell out of the fact that I was forced to.

[JosephDuvernay]

Here we go again with the kind of 'difficulty ahead!' warning about a struggler, striver, and a near 'beware!' of their original text(s) (see below). I do have the Max Niemeyer Verlag Tubingen German edition for checks, etc. But I found Heidegger's 'Sein und Zeit' 'Being and Time' as I took my time with it, a wonderful thinking document, and highly recommend it in the Macquarrie and Robinson English trans., for those of us who may have too much time on our hands, etc. etc. and while I listened here, the explaining of texts by the studious, and their (including Denis McManus') enlightened view(s) is fully accepted as an enrichment.

[divertissementmonas]

It would seem that in order to be oneself - a sovereign self- one would need to be very wealthly. Otherwise you are forced to conform to a varitey of social conventions within different social settings. The job interview demands not only how one is expected to dress but also how one gives the expected answers. What's ironic is when the interviewer tells you to be yourself! 🤣

So being born into a life of leisure frees one up to be oneself. McManus gave some good examples of changing behaviours according to the social context and expected norms. Being a 'good' teacher means you have conformed to the rules of the conventions of the interview and the conventional rules of teaching. Aristotle knew that only a very few would be free to being themselves.

[alwaysgreatusa]

Society is not artificial, what is artificial is an isolated man in the state of nature !

[alwaysgreatusa]

The truly authentic never seeks for authenticity, for why would it seek what it already is ?

[FreedomSpirit]

You can tell by the intro to this video the man giving the speech is very Pro Society

[alwaysgreatusa]

He who defines himself as being against the herd, or above the herd, or even beyond the herd, nonetheless defines himself in terms of the herd.

[hihello-sxsx]

The idea that one only believes something in so much as they act on those beliefs seems obviously false. Do those who are enslaved not believe that they should be free if they don’t act to free themselves from enslavement? There are clearly situations where lack of action for a belief is compatible with the existence of that belief, namely those circumstances where no viable act exists to manifest those beliefs.

[cncshrops]

Slightly disappointed that my plan for this to lull me to sleep has failed. Explicating Heidegger in ways that engage with the notions of contemporary psychology was very helpful. An a little ego boost at the end as I thought of Aristotle just before Denis introduced him😬.

[LuigiSimoncini]

thank you, is there a chance automatic closed captions will be enabled?

[kenjohnson]

Interesting discussion of questions that really mean a lot in people's lives. I always think of "the they" as "the we." If I conform, then, for example, I read the NYT every morning -- that's what we people do, we reasonably intelligent, educated decent citizens. And I believe every lie in the paper.

[thetruthoutside]

In a sense, you are ACTING towards the they.

[thedolphin]

Faaark, this guy really should be studying some human psychology. He has NO UNDERSTANDING of human nature or the powers and effects of social conditioning. He's just a name-dropping, very derivative thinker.