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Articles

The Limits of Authenticity

Ben G. Yacobi asks if it is possible to live authentically.

We are told: “To thine own self be true!” But what do we mean if we say that somebody is an authentic person, or a very genuine person? Personal authenticity is often defined as being true and honest with oneself and others, having a credibility in one’s words and behavior, and an absence of pretence. Its meaning is then often clarified by contrasting it to inauthenticity, like comparing light to darkness. But in the absence of any clear criteria for judging authenticity, the boundaries between being authentic and being inauthentic are amorphous and uncertain, and often porous.

The quest for authenticity is in part related to achieving some measure of autonomy and freedom – to the desire to be the architect of one’s own life. Striving for personal authenticity provides an antidote to outside conditioning, and to some extent is a reaction to the inauthenticity prevalent in culture, religion, politics, and everyday life.

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