Somogy Varga’s “The Paradox of Authenticity” appears in Telos 156 (Fall 2011). Read the full version online at the TELOS Online website, or purchase a print copy of the issue here.
The ideal of authenticity has become a prevalent ethical ideal with an immense impact on popular culture. Authenticity is no longer restricted to the periphery of philosophy, and prominent thinkers have recently reintroduced it as a central philosophical issue. However, contemporary accounts do not seem to pay sufficient attention to how the ideal of authenticity and certain practices in capitalism have shaped each other reciprocally. This essay attempts to make initial steps toward filling this gap.
