“Authenticity” — The Right Ideas in Aesthetic Performance?

May 8, 2018

I never knew, until today, that the rubric that one must be “authentic” — repeated ad nauseam these days — derives from Heidegger.

I have always repudiated the concept of “authenticity,” especially in aesthetic matters, as solipsistic, unimaginative and even destructive, but now, knowing its origin, it is far darker and more poisonous than ever I imagined.

One must be wary of the ideas circulating in the zeitgeist (should I even use a Hegelian term?). Dust off your intellectual sh**kicker and kick out the worthless ideas, and do it today!