Is the self something we find—or something we create? We’re constantly told to “be ourselves,” but the world teaches us fast that we also need to be likable, marketable, and hot. No wonder we’re all confused. In this episode, we dive into how different philosophers—from Socrates to Simone de Beauvoir to Carl Jung—understood the search for the true self and how their insights can help us stop performing and start living more honestly. If you’ve ever felt like you’re performing your personality instead of living it, this one’s for you.

EPISODE OUTLINE 

00:00 Intro

05:49 Sigmund Freud

09:08 Attachment theory (Bowlby & Ainsworth)

10:55 Carl Jung’s theory on masks and shadows

12:15 The chill girl mask (Gone Girl)

13:34 Shapeshifter (MAKE BELIEVE) 

14:38 The masks vs. the Self

15:04 Rousseau’s natural vs. social man

17:15 Using logic to hide from passion 

17:55 For the ones who left (MAKE BELIEVE)

19:37 Freud, Jung & Rousseau reflection questions 

21:48 Sartre: owning your agency as authenticity

23:08 Sartre’s concept of bad faith 

24:12 Simone de Beauvoir on social class 

26:41 The upper limit theory (Gay Hendricks)

27:25 But also, the playing field isn’t level

27:48 Sartre & de Beauvoir reflection questions

29:27 Heidegger: inauthenticity due to death denial 

31:33 Authenticity vs. ethics and compassion

33:23 Authenticity vs. self-protection 

34:01 Kant’s categorical imperative

34:48 Socrates: dying on the hill of authenticity

35:26 Socrates and Kant reflection questions

36:46 Nietzsche on creation of the true self 

37:17 Does everyone have a calling?

38:19 Jealousy as a clue to your passions

38:33 The “love it for you, want it for me” folder

39:53 Nothing grows if you don’t water it

40:18 Nietzsche reflection questions  

41:50 Lightning round recap 

EPISODE LINKS

• Carl Jung, The Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious (1959) and Modern Man in Search of a Soul (1933)

• Jean-Paul Sartre, Being and Nothingness (1943)

• Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex (1949)

• Authenticity episode of In Our Time: Philosophy

MY LINKS

• ⁠MAKE BELIEVE is out everywhere now⁠

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