Authenticity is seen as the subjective voice of the individual that expresses justly her/his unique combination of qualities and abilities, in relation to the communities of which s/he is part.
The authentic expression of the uniqueness of the individual is seen as a goal of education within SunWALK. Such a goal however, which is always subject to the limits and freedoms brought by the society in which the individual lives, is seen by some as contrary to the common good, or at least as very secondary to the good of the group. Here this development of the subjective voice, it is seen as vital in order than the individual’s gifts might be developed for the good of groups to which s/he belongs.
Charles Taylor argues powerfully for a positive view of authenticity. He points out that the modern notion of authenticity is self-referential but says there is a vital distinction between self-referentiality as orientation and self-referentiality as content. Confusing the two he says is disastrous. (pp. 81-82)
This jibes well with the distinction that others make between individuality and individualism. In SunWALK I take the view that a balanced middle way makes most sense. Individuality is vital, not just for the individual but for what s/he brings to others. The religious/spiritual view, shared here, is that authenticity and autonomy is best developed via a sense of service of others. The balance then recognizes the needs of others, and society as a whole, in the process of the individual’s development of autonomy and authenticity.
Such concern for balance also relates to the sociological debate between agency and structure. The view in SunWALK is that no agency exists, or can develop, without enculturization being present – both as external contexts and as a shaper within the consciouness of the individual. That is the cultural is both external and internal phenomena that helps shape perception and (creative) expression. Having said that our task is to achieve capabilities that enable us to see through the limits of our own culture, as it exists internally as well as externally. The metaphor of a potter, his hands, clay and the wheel relates in the sense that there is always spirit and form (and formation) in the making of a pot.
Taylor, Charles, (1991), The Ethics of Authenticity Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press
Peter Abbs (1993) gave a very interesting 8 point view of authenticity. He suggests eight characteristics to prove education as a reality distinct from other activities such as training or memorising or exam passing. He sees these characteristics as taking us a long way from the present government’s obsession with delivery, control, prescription and standardization. These characteristics, Abbs considers, have Socrates as their source. The eight characteristics that Abbs sees distinguishing authentic education are:
1) commitment to understanding;
2) seeing education as inherently valuable;
3) experiencing education as existential in the sense of the individual taking responsibility for something which cannot be bought or transferred but which can be released by the right agent including a teacher;
4) level of engagement (being utterly absorbed) – not just the mind but the whole personality;
5) recognising that education is open-ended and that of necessity we live with uncertainties with scientific theories only being provisional explanations;
6) being collaborative (in dialogue) both in the sense of wisdom passed down the ages, and as the trust and relations within the group or class or seminar;
7) recognising diversity including plurality in modes of understanding, ways of knowing;
8)acknowledging transcendence – moments in which one can sense abiding value and a sense of the ordinary self surpassing itself, seeming to be fully alive but in another realm.
Abbs, Peter, “On the Need for the Socratic”, p.1, and “On Intellectual Research as Socratic Activity” p.66 in Aspects of Education, Socratic Ed. No.49, Inst. of Ed. University of Hull 1993
There is also an interesting Baha’i perspective, in my reading of this passage from Baha’i writings concerning justice:
O SON OF SPIRIT! The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbour. Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes. (Baha’u’llah: Arabic Hidden Words, Page: 2)
Interestingly I found a similar quotation attributed to Albert Einstein;
“Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.”
The interesting ideas in the Baha’i quotation include; the reiteration of justice as the supreme virtue, the promise that God (or Mystery or the Other or the Whole?) can only speak to the individual if justice is ‘enshrined’, the promise that through justice as an internal condition we will see reality and see authentically not vicariously, and manifest knowing that is authentic and not second-hand, the notion that we become autonomous through justice as well as authentic, the notion that realization of this state of being and set of capabilities is through contemplation using the heart-mind (see Mind, Heart-mind and Soul).
The Hidden Word concerning justice admonishes us to ‘ponder in our hearts’. This is interesting in that it says ‘heart’ not mind, and certainly not brain. Under ‘consciousness’ and in the main body of the dissertation I have suggested, as a new or richer epistemology that consciousness can be thought of as heart-mind, and that the peculiar desire to separate head and heart in the West has been a curse, as well as possibly a bringer of some benefits.
Authenticity is seen as vital because it is highly developed subjectivity that releases capabilities, and the key to a civilized society is seen as how it manages the public-private, objective-subjective, moral-utilitarian sets of relationships.
Authenticity, and subjectivity, are vital because freedom is necessary to act responsibility. Fundamentalism not only takes away rights, from a human rights point of view, it absolves individuals from having to think hard and make difficult decisions.
See also Trilling (1971) who deals with authenticity as a criterion of art and as a quality of the personal life. SEE separate Bibliographies.
Ken Wilber’s view is implicitly presented in his two brilliant essays on the nature of Art and art criticism in his book The Eye of Spirit.
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All postings to this site relate to the central model in the PhD. Summaries are HERE
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