Authenticity and the Analytic Process

In this paper we first make a differentiation between phenomena that can be defined as spontaneous and others that can be defined as authentic. We then attempt to present authenticity as a process rather than an outcome. Finally, we try to understand the location of authentic phenomena in the sensorial and pre-symbolic communicative register. We situate authentic phenomena in the register of sensorial and pre-symbolic communication. The authentic process becomes manifest, step by step in the analytic process (Borgogno, 1999), through the vivid iconic and sensorial elements that happen to cross the analytic field. Through two brief clinical vignettes, we seek to document the progression of the analytic process, in one case through the analyst's capacity for rêverie (Bion, 1962; Ogden, 1994, 1997; Ferro, 2002, 2007), and in the other through the sensorial elements with which analyst and patient are able to tune in to each other.     

Schleiermacher and the Ethics of Authenticity

Schleiermacher's Soliloquies not only represent a pivotal work in this classically modern theologian's development as a moral philosopher. They are also arguably the principal moral writing of the early German romantic movement and therefore a significant, if widely overlooked, contribution to the history of ethics in the West. This essay provides a comprehensive interpretation and modest retrieval of this unusual and difficult work by bringing Schleiermacher's early “ethics of individuality” into conversation with Charles Taylor's conception of “expressivist” understandings of human selfhood. It argues that the Monologen are a signal instance of what Taylor has subtly characterized as romanticism's expressivist impulse.     

Self-Knowledge and the Bounds of Authenticity

This paper criticizes the widespread view whereby a second-order judgment of the form ‘I believe that p’ qualifies as self-knowledge only if the embedded content, p, is of the same type as the content of the intentional state reflected upon and the self-ascribed attitude, belief, is of the same type as the attitude the subject takes towards p. Rather than requiring identity of contents across levels of cognition self-knowledge requires only that the embedded content of the second-order thought be an entailment of the content of the intentional state reflected upon. And rather than demanding identity of attitudes across levels of cognition self-knowledge demands only that the attitude of the intentional state reflected upon and the attitude the subject self-attributes share certain features such as direction of fit and polarity.

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Authenticity and Healing

Caring and compassion cannot be faked. These are not actions we perform mechanically but states of being that flow from within to make healing connection with others in need. To be authentically healing requires that we live authentic lives. This paper describes what it means to be authentic from a psychospiritual perspective, discusses the components of authentic caring and ends with an exploration of ways to cultivate the authenticity of our lives in general and in our efforts to heal others.     

Freedom and Authenticity

ABSTRACT The essay enquires whether action that authentically expresses the self who acts constitutes freedom. Features of authentic action that tempt toward this assimilation are identified, and a recent theory of freedom that propounds the assimilation is examined. An illustrative example of authentic action in conditions of unfreedom is discussed. Reasons are proposed for judging the equation of freedom with authenticity a mistake. Noted in particular is the error of confusing the subjective condition of authentic choice with the objective circumstance of unconstrained interpersonal relations.     

Authenticity and Heidegger's Antigone

Sophocles' Antigone is the only individual whom Heidegger names as authentic. But the usual interpretations of Heidegger's ‘authenticity’ (as being-towards-death, taking responsibility for norms, world-historical creation, and a neo-Aristotelian phronēsis) either do not apply to Antigone or do not capture what Heidegger finds significant about her. By working through these failures, I develop an interpretation of Heideggerian authenticity that is adequate to his Antigone. The crucial step is accurately identifying the finitude to which Antigone authentically relates: what Heidegger calls ‘uncanniness' (Unheimlichkeit). I argue that uncanniness names being's presencing through self-withdrawal and that Antigone stands authentically towards this in her responsiveness to the call of being and her reticence at the end of explanation. In conclusion, I consider Sophocles' own creative act, which bequeathed to the West an understanding of being and a vision of how to relate to it authentically. I argue that Sophocles' status as a world-historical creator does not provide a competing picture of authenticity but must itself be understood as responsive and reticent.     

极权主义和政治现代性--读《极权主义的起源》

阿伦特的《极权主义的起源》是要揭示一种特殊的现代政治现象的起因和条件,探讨极权主义这个现代特有的现象的深层历史原因及其结构因素。正因为如此,她的许多观点和分析至今仍有重要的意义。极权主义是反犹主义、民族国家的衰落、种族主义、为扩张而扩张、资本和暴徒联盟结合在一起的产物。极权主义就是从根本上消灭人性,它反映了“我们世纪的危机”,揭示了西方文明及其价值体系的崩溃。     

Exhaustion and the Pathologization of Modernity

This essay analyses six case studies of theories of exhaustion-related conditions from the early eighteenth century to the present day. It explores the ways in which George Cheyne, George Beard, Richard von Krafft-Ebing, Sigmund Freud, Alain Ehrenberg and Jonathan Crary use medical ideas about exhaustion as a starting point for more wide-ranging cultural critiques related to specific social and technological transformations. In these accounts, physical and psychological symptoms are associated with particular external developments, which are thus not just construed as pathology-generators but also pathologized. The essay challenges some of the persistently repeated claims about exhaustion and its unhappy relationship with modernity.     

在传统与现代之间——凡特胡拉·古莱恩苏非主义思想简论

凡特胡拉·古莱恩是土耳其当代著名的学者和宗教活动家,其苏非主义思想既继承了新苏非主义的部分主张,又进行了适度变革,使苏非主义在内容、组织形式等方面具有一些新的特点.中间主义是古莱恩苏非思想的核心之所在,为穆斯林正确认识传统与现代以及二者的关系提供了新的视角.     

Authenticity at Work: Development and Validation of an Individual Authenticity Measure at Work

Building on the work by Barrett-Lennard (Carl Rogers’ helping system: Journey & substance. Sage, London 1998) and Wood et al. (J Couns Psychol 55:385–399 2008), this study describes the development and validation of a theory-based measure of state authenticity at work, the Individual Authenticity Measure at Work (IAM Work). Even though this construct is obviously relevant to the work context (e.g., as regards issues of work relations, leadership and well-being), none of the instruments currently available focuses on authenticity in the area of work and organizational psychology. A total sample of 646 participants was divided in two equal sized subsamples. Exploratory factor analysis supported the underlying tripartite construct of authenticity at work, resulting in the subscales authentic living, self-alienation, and accepting external influences. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the tripartite construct and showed good psychometric properties of the state-focused measure of authenticity at work. Finally, correlation analysis showed that each subscale and the total score of authenticity was positively related to commonly used work outcomes such as job satisfaction, in-role performance, and work engagement. This study concludes that the IAM Work is a reliable and valid measure of state authenticity at work. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

现代性和虚无主义

西方文化语境中的虚无主义是一种精神世界的价值虚空状态,是现代性的特征。列斐伏尔彰显现代性的虚无主义本质,从虚无主义切入现代性,从虚无中看到了希望,认为现代既是虚无主义的时代,也将是新生的时代。这对于我们认清自己的现代性建构道路及目标具有重要启迪意义,当代中国以人为本、和谐社会等核心价值理念能帮助人摆脱虚无主义。     

Authenticity and Constructivism in Education

This paper examines the concept of authenticity and its relevance in education, from a philosophical perspective. Under the heading of educational authenticity (EA), I critique Fred Newmann’s views on authentic pedagogy and intellectual work. I argue against the notion that authentic engagement is usefully analyzed in terms of a relationship between school work and: “real” work. I also seek to clarify the increasingly problematic concept of constructivism, arguing that there are two distinct constructivist theses, only one of which deserves serious attention. I explain that the correspondence view of authenticity pays insufficient attention to the reality that the presence of “real world” connections does not guarantee that teaching and learning will be truly authentic. As a bridge to a philosophically acceptable understanding of authenticity, I reflect on John Dewey, who famously strove to base his views on education on the experience of the child, while rejecting that such experience requires validation from the “real” world. And Jean Jacques Rousseau offers several clues as to how the search for an authentic self might proceed beyond the Romanticist vision of an inner essence. These include the idea of the self as constructed inter-subjectively, which I capture by the term “one among others” and which, in turn, reveals persons as dialogically engaged in working out who they are and what they stand for (an idea found in the work of Charles Taylor). There is a clear affinity here with the imperative proposed by Newmann. I embrace the idea that the cultivation of dialogue should be a key priority in classrooms, because dialogue drives each individual to seek meaning in the context of seeing her/himself as one among others. I highlight the role of the classroom community of inquiry as an environment which has the dual function of cultivating disciplined inquiry and facilitating the kind of personal development that can, most properly, be termed “authentic”.

现代化与现代性——历史·理论·关系

现代性是从中世纪末萌芽的,在其发展中取得了普世意义的理性形式:科学精神、人文精神、法治精神和自由、平等、民主的理念。现代化的出生比现代性稍晚,它由三个层面组成:物质层面、制度层面和精神层面。现代性与现代化是我们这个时代的主导精神和各民族皆追求的事业。现代性与现代化不是同一事物,但它们在历史背景上、精神源泉上和构建现代国家上存在着同一又有差别的关系。