Authenticity as Experimentality in Search of the Good Life
Abstract
This dissertation is aimed at explicating an interpretation of the ideal of personal authenticity, in terms of its meaning and (ethical) value, in part as an action-guiding principle by which individuals might be expected to live. Amidst the debates pertaining to what the "true self" is supposed to reference, how it might be realized, and what the purpose or value of realizing it might be, I find that authenticity is best understood as an appeal to the potential for each individual to meaningfully contribute, in solidarity with a given community, to the shared pursuit of defining and clarifying the proper aims and values of human life. On this understanding, authenticity requires individuals to deprioritize (or fully suspend) the egoistic drive towards mere personal self-preservation (and private goods associated with this), and to determine decisions and actions metapersonally, in part by reflecting upon competing perceptions, interpretations, and judgements of value, concerning themselves and the world around them.
Subject Area
Philosophy|Ethics|Psychology|Literature
Recommended Citation
Pope, Sara Nicole, "Authenticity as Experimentality in Search of the Good Life" (2024). ETD Collection for Fordham University. AAI31243582.
https://research.library.fordham.edu/dissertations/AAI31243582
