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

Why Listen?

Listen On:

Support This Work

If this episode gave you pause or resonance, you can support ongoing production here: Buy Me a Coffee.

Bibliography

Bibliography Relevance

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