Explain Two Theories That Suggest What It Means To Live An Authentic Life

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What does it mean to live an authentic life? Why is it a good thing? There are two theories that suggest what it means to live authentically. One is the modern authenticity theory, which urges us to carry out introspection, and find our most truest and deepest desires plus the set of behaviour we find most intensely represents myself, and behave in accordance to the self we believe to be true for ourself. The theory states that our actions should not be a mere result of pressure from other people or culture, but are in accordance with the being that we most profoundly believe to be true. The self I believe to be true is a set of traits I feel the urge to display because they feel intensely true to me. This theory is popular because some believe there is something fundamentally dishonest about social interaction. …show more content…

For example, a young student is pressured by her parents and attracted by the salary to be a lawyer, but realizes that she honestly hates being a lawyer and that her deepest desire is to be an artist. According to this modern authenticity theory, the student should adhere to her current deepest desire, and pursue a career that she would really want to build, instead of succumbing to outside pressure. It is authentic because she is 'being true to herself', meaning that she is following her deepest desire. Yet other people have doubts about the modern authenticity theory, and came up with a revised version. Charles Guignon believes that our desires are transient, no matter how strongly we felt about them at that particular moment; therefore it is unreliable to follow all of our 'deepest desires' every time they surface. He believes that, we should follow our desires only when we are able to give logical reasoning to support our actions, regardless of how intensity true we believe them to

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