Against Authenticity : Why You Shouldn't Be Yourself

Be True To Yourself--it Is A Dictum So Ubiquitous That It Can Seem Like Both Philosophical Wisdom And An Empty Truism. Should We Aspire To An Ideal Of Living Authentically? What Does It Mean To Be True To Yourself? Against Authenticity: Why You Shouldn't Be Yourself Is A Philosophical Exploration And Critique Of The Ideal Of Authenticity. Simon Feldman Argues That If Being True To Ourselves Is A Matter Of Maintaining A Strong Will, Being Psychologically Independent, Achieving Self-knowledge, Or Being Morally Conscientious, Then The Best Lives We Can Lead Should Be Expected To Involve Substantial Inauthenticity. Feldman Suggests That Various Construals Of The Ideal Of Authenticity Presuppose Metaphysically Confused Notions Of The Self (for Example, That There Is A Determinate True Self) And That Under The Guise Of Indisputable Wisdom The Ideal Perpetuates Both Objectionably Relativistic As Well As Reactionary Moral Thinking. Feldman Concludes That The Ideal Of Authenticity Is One That We Would Be Better Off Abandoning, Independent Of Our Other Moral Or Ethical Commitments. With Implications For Every Reader's Conception Of Authenticity And Identity, Against Authenticity Is An Exciting Challenge For Students And Scholars Of Ethics, Metaethics, Metaphysics, And Moral Psychology. The Wellbeing Account Of The Ideal Of Authenticity -- The Rationality Account Of The Ideal Of Authenticity -- The Moral Account Of The Ideal Of Authenticity -- Bad Advice: Action-guiding Rules And The Nature Of Normative Failure -- Ethics Without Authenticity: Looking Outward Not In. Simon Feldman. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Contents 6 Acknowledgments 8 Introduction 10 Chapter One: The Well-being Account of The Ideal of Authenticity 30 Chapter Two: The Rationality Account of The Ideal of Authenticity 70 Chapter Three: The Moral Account of The Ideal of Authenticity 104 Chapter Four: Bad Advice: Action-Guiding Rules and the Nature of Normative Failure 136 Chapter Five: Ethics without Authenticity: Looking Outward, Not In 172 References 204 Index 208 About the Author 216