Authenticity
by
According to the OED, the first instance of the word authenticity was in 1716, in letters to Dr. Richard Bentley regarding a translation of the New Testament (cited in McDonald 2016, 226). Variations of the word authenticity, however, appear earlier: “autenticitat (probably 1343)” and “French authenticité (1557).” Definitions of authenticity include “the fact or quality of being true or in accordance with fact; veracity; correctness”; “of undisputed origin and not a copy; genuine”; “made or done in the traditional or original way, or in a way that faithfully resembles an original”; and “based on facts; accurate or reliable” (OED). Moving from religious to philosophical meanings, Kernis and Goldman claim that two aspects of “authentic functioning” are “people’s (1) self-understanding” and “(2) openness to objectively recognizing their ontological realities (e.g., evaluating their desirable and undesirable self-aspects)” (2006, 284). Sartre agrees: “Man is nothing else but that which he makes of himself” ([1946] 2004, 282). In contrast, Heidegger defines inauthenticity as “a state in which life, stripped of purpose and responsibility, is depersonalized and dehumanized” (Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy). Being authentic to oneself can collide with one’s writing being authentic to a culture. The tension between the two derives from the fact...
This essay may be found on page 24 of the printed volume.