In Search of the Authentic Self: Explaining Phenomenology of Authenticity
Masa Urbancic
Journal of Information Security Research, Vol. 9, No. 4, 2018.
DOI: 
Link: http://www.dline.info/jisr/fulltext/v9n4/jisrv9n4_3.pdf
Abstract:
There are moments in most peopleâ€™s lives when they feel more or less themselves. This experience is usually caught
in people sayings that they need to find themselves or just be who they â€˜really areâ€™. The purpose of this paper is to provide an
explanation for these feelings of authenticity. I first explore this concept and consequently introduce necessary conditions for
the phenomenological experience of authenticity. This is followed by the examination of two problems that authenticity faces
and two possible ways of explaining the experience of authenticity, which are discovery and creation. I then assess three
discovery views and show why they are unsatisfactory in explaining feelings of authenticity. In response I then provide my own
creation model of authenticity, which argues that feelings of authenticity are a result of a convergence between our current and
ideal self. In this sense, authentic self is created. What we are is a matter of choice.