The eighteenth-century aesthetician Edward Young once asked: "Born originals, how comes it to pass we die copies?" In the same century, Jean-Jacques
Rousseau answers this question about the origins of authenticity by charting the
individual's "fall" into society; that is, into artifice, hypocrisy, vanity, and conformism. This tutorial begins with Rousseau's reflections on authentic individuality as they are developed in several of his works. We then trace the idea of
authenticity (as an aesthetic and ethical category) in both literary and philosophical texts associated with romanticism, existentialism, Marxian critical theory,
and the self-analysis of the psychoanalytic tradition (e.g. Stendhal, Nietzsche,
Marx, Oscar Wilde, Joseph Conrad, Gide, Heidegger, and Freud). We conclude
with recent challenges to the coherence, viability, and value of the ideal of authenticity as it applies not only to individuality, but also to group identities and
"artifacts" (e.g. Benjamin, Foucault, Derrida). Themes and questions investigated include the following: (1) Must "authenticity" refer to some notion of an
innate core or deep self? Are there other terms in which we can imagine "being
ourselves"?; (2) Can one adopt authenticity as a project? Or, do analysis and reflection invariably defeat such a project?; (3) Does being authentic require that
one defy social conventions in favor of the "natural" or "instinctual"? Is it compatible with adopting conventional roles or forms of selfhood, with belonging to
a community, with being "civilized" or with an artful self-styling?; (4) What impact do the rise of bourgeois society, the machine age, consumerism, and mass
media have on the possibilities for authenticity?; (5) Is the voice and style of authenticity necessarily simple, direct, and sincere? For example, what truth if any
can be found in Oscar Wilde's remark: "Man is least himself when he talks in his
own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth"?; (6) Are particular
versions of the ideal of authenticity either gender- or racially-inflected?
Students will work with partners. Each student will write and present orally an
essay of 5-6 pages every other week on an assigned topic in the reading for that
week. Students not presenting an essay will offer critiques of their partner's
essay. Evaluation will be based on written work, oral presentation of essays, and
critiques. Prerequisite: one course in Philosophy or permission of instructor.