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Cited by 382Phenomenology and Existential PhilosophyPhilosophical Ethics and TheoryModernity and Self-Identity

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On Being Authentic

Guignon, Charles·2004·Routledge eBooks
DOI 10.4324/9780203646793
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Abstract

'To thine own self be true.' From Polonius's words in Hamlet right up to Oprah, we are constantly urged to look within. Why is being authentic the ultimate aim in life for so many people, and why does it mean looking inside rather than out? Is it about finding the 'real' me, or something greater than me, even God? And should we welcome what we find?Thought-provoking and with an astonishing range of references, On Being Authentic is a gripping journey into the self that begins with Socrates and Augustine. Charles Guignon asks why being authentic ceased to mean being part of some bigger, cosmic picture and with Rousseau, Wordsworth and the Romantic movement, took the strong inward turn alive in today's self-help culture. He also plumbs the darker depths of authenticity, with the help of Freud, Joseph Conrad and Alice Miller and reflects on the future of being authentic in a postmodern, global age. He argues ultimately that if we are to rescue the ideal of being authentic, we have to see ourselves as fundamentally social creatures, embedded in relationships and communities, and that being authentic is not about what is owed to me but how I depend on others.

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Metadata

Authors
Guignon, C.
Corresponding author
Guignon, Charles
Venue
Routledge eBooks
Publisher
Routledge
Published
2004-08-02
DOI
10.4324/9780203646793
OpenAlex
W4237493127
Cited by
382
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 10 · 2025: 47 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 15 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 18 · 2020: 20 · 2019: 16 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 18 · 2016: 12 · 2015: 18 · 2014: 27 · 2013: 31 · 2012: 10
FWCI
2.86
Type
book
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Routledge eBooks (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Philosophy › Philosophical Ethics and Theory
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Modernity and Self-Identity
Keywords
authenticity, self-knowledge, self-help culture, Socrates, Augustine of Hippo, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, William Wordsworth, Romanticism, Sigmund Freud, Joseph Conrad, Alice Miller, postmodernism, dependency on others, Hamlet

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