1
0
Authenticity is a concept that is central to existentialist philosophy and refers to the idea of being true to oneself. According to existentialism, individuals must create their own meaning and purpose in life, and this requires being authentic and honest about who one is and what one wants.
Being authentic means embracing one’s true self, including one’s strengths and weaknesses, desires and fears, and values and beliefs. It involves living in a way that is consistent with one’s innermost being, rather than conforming to external expectations or social norms.
Authenticity is not just about being true to oneself, but also about being true to others. Authentic individuals are honest and transparent in their interactions with others, and they do not try to manipulate or deceive others for personal gain.
In essence, authenticity is about living a life that is genuine and true, both to oneself and to others. It is a challenging and ongoing process that requires self-awareness, self-reflection, and a willingness to take risks and make difficult choices in pursuit of one’s own unique path in life.
Condemned to be free.
Jean-Paul Sartre, a prominent existentialist philosopher, had a lot to say about authenticity. In his view, authenticity is closely tied to the concept of freedom, and he believed that individuals must create their own values and meaning in life in order to be truly authentic, in his work ‘Being and Nothingness,’ he emphasizes the idea that human beings are fundamentally free and must take responsibility for their own actions by stating that ‘Man is condemned to be free.’ In other words we have so much freedom that it’s burdensome to know what to do with it!
For Sartre, authenticity involves embracing one’s own freedom and taking responsibility for one’s own actions. He believed that individuals are fundamentally free, and that this freedom is what makes authentic existence possible. However, he also acknowledged that this freedom can be overwhelming and anxiety-inducing, as it requires individuals to create their own meaning and purpose in life, he stated in Existentialism is a Humanism, “I am the one who defines myself – a complete and autonomous entity, existing outside of all influence.”
According to Sartre, authenticity requires individuals to be true to themselves and to embrace their own uniqueness. This involves rejecting external societal norms and expectations, and instead following one’s own inner voice and desires. Sartre believed that individuals must take risks and make difficult choices in order to fully embrace their own freedom and authenticity.
Sartre also believed that authenticity requires individuals to be honest with themselves and with others. This involves being transparent and open in one’s interactions with others, and not pretending to be something that one is not, such freedom can produce anxiety because it requires us to confront the fact that we are solely responsible for our lives and our choices because we have no fixed nature or predetermined destiny. In other words, there is no inherent purpose or meaning to our lives; we must create our own.
Self reflection
This realization of our own freedom can be daunting because it requires us to take responsibility for our own existence and to create our own values and meaning in life. We must confront the fact that there is no external authority or objective morality to guide us, and that we must make difficult choices without the certainty of knowing whether we are making the “right” ones, by accepting that we are responsible for our own existence and the choices we make, we can develop a sense of agency and control over our lives, which can help to reduce any existential anxiety about our choices and the decisions that we may have made that have not worked out as well as we would have liked.
Overall, Sartre saw authenticity as a challenging but necessary aspect of human existence. He believed that individuals must embrace their own freedom and uniqueness in order to create a meaningful and authentic life.
“To be authentic is to be true to oneself.” he wrote in his essay “Existentialism Is a Humanism,” highlighting the importance of being true to one’s own nature and desires in the pursuit of authenticity. To an existentialist authenticity is the essential component in a good life.
