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Listen "The Search for Authenticity - The Deeper Thinking Podcast"
Episode Synopsis
The Search for Authenticity: Identity, Sincerity, and the Crisis of the Self
The Deeper Thinking Podcast
For those who wonder whether being true to oneself is an act of discovery—or invention.
We speak often of authenticity—as a virtue, a compass, a goal. But what does it mean to be “authentic” in a world saturated with influence, performance, and surveillance? Is the self something we uncover—or something we construct? This episode journeys through ancient ethics, existential dilemmas, and digital performances to ask: what remains of the authentic self when every identity can be optimized?
We explore the roots of authenticity from Aristotle and Augustine, through Rousseau, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche, to Foucault and Byung-Chul Han—tracing how the search for self has become increasingly tangled in anxiety, contradiction, and critique.
Reflections
Authenticity is no longer about being real—it’s about being seen as real.
The more we perform sincerity, the more sincerity itself unravels.
Some selves are curated. Others are coerced.
To be authentic is to live without scripts—but we are drowning in them.
Perhaps authenticity was always a myth. But myths still shape how we live.
Why Listen?
Explore the origins of authenticity in virtue ethics and confessional traditions
Reflect on the existential crises posed by Sartre, Heidegger, and de Beauvoir
Engage with critiques from Foucault and Derrida on identity, power, and performance
Ask whether authenticity in the digital age is even possible—or simply a more subtle simulation
Listen On:
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
Support This Work
If this episode gave you pause or resonance, you can support ongoing production here: Buy Me a Coffee.
Bibliography
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Confessions
Søren Kierkegaard, Either/Or
Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil
Martin Heidegger, Being and Time
Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality
Byung-Chul Han, The Transparency Society
Bibliography Relevance
Rousseau: Sees authenticity as a return to a natural, uncorrupted self
Kierkegaard: Frames authenticity as a leap into personal responsibility
Nietzsche: Urges radical self-creation as the highest form of authenticity
Heidegger: Connects authenticity to mortality and choice
de Beauvoir: Expands authenticity into the realm of ethics and freedom
Foucault: Questions whether identity is ever truly our own
Han: Warns that transparency has displaced truth with spectacle
Perhaps the search for authenticity is not about finding the self—but resisting the forces that want to define it for us.
#Authenticity #Existentialism #Foucault #Heidegger #DigitalSelf #Nietzsche #Beauvoir #TheDeeperThinkingPodcast #PhilosophyOfSelf #SimulatedIdentity #Arendt #Postmodernism #TransparencyCulture
The Deeper Thinking Podcast
For those who wonder whether being true to oneself is an act of discovery—or invention.
We speak often of authenticity—as a virtue, a compass, a goal. But what does it mean to be “authentic” in a world saturated with influence, performance, and surveillance? Is the self something we uncover—or something we construct? This episode journeys through ancient ethics, existential dilemmas, and digital performances to ask: what remains of the authentic self when every identity can be optimized?
We explore the roots of authenticity from Aristotle and Augustine, through Rousseau, Kierkegaard, and Nietzsche, to Foucault and Byung-Chul Han—tracing how the search for self has become increasingly tangled in anxiety, contradiction, and critique.
Reflections
Authenticity is no longer about being real—it’s about being seen as real.
The more we perform sincerity, the more sincerity itself unravels.
Some selves are curated. Others are coerced.
To be authentic is to live without scripts—but we are drowning in them.
Perhaps authenticity was always a myth. But myths still shape how we live.
Why Listen?
Explore the origins of authenticity in virtue ethics and confessional traditions
Reflect on the existential crises posed by Sartre, Heidegger, and de Beauvoir
Engage with critiques from Foucault and Derrida on identity, power, and performance
Ask whether authenticity in the digital age is even possible—or simply a more subtle simulation
Listen On:
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
Support This Work
If this episode gave you pause or resonance, you can support ongoing production here: Buy Me a Coffee.
Bibliography
Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Confessions
Søren Kierkegaard, Either/Or
Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil
Martin Heidegger, Being and Time
Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex
Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality
Byung-Chul Han, The Transparency Society
Bibliography Relevance
Rousseau: Sees authenticity as a return to a natural, uncorrupted self
Kierkegaard: Frames authenticity as a leap into personal responsibility
Nietzsche: Urges radical self-creation as the highest form of authenticity
Heidegger: Connects authenticity to mortality and choice
de Beauvoir: Expands authenticity into the realm of ethics and freedom
Foucault: Questions whether identity is ever truly our own
Han: Warns that transparency has displaced truth with spectacle
Perhaps the search for authenticity is not about finding the self—but resisting the forces that want to define it for us.
#Authenticity #Existentialism #Foucault #Heidegger #DigitalSelf #Nietzsche #Beauvoir #TheDeeperThinkingPodcast #PhilosophyOfSelf #SimulatedIdentity #Arendt #Postmodernism #TransparencyCulture
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