ON BEING AUTHENTIC What does it mean to be true to myself?   July's issue for reflectionWHAT DOES IT MEANTO BE TRUE TO MYSELF? “This man is so authentic!”  “That girl is fake, a phony!”  “I will not listen to them – I must be true to myself!” What does it mean to be authentic, or true to myself? Who should I be true to? Who do I betr...

HENRI BERGSON Henri Bergson (1859-1941) was an important French philosopher, extremely influential at the beginning of the 20th century, and a Nobel Prize winner in literature. He was born near Paris to a Jewish family, but as a teenager he lost his faith. He did his PhD in philosophy at the University of Paris, and his doctoral thesis was “Time an...

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius, Meditations The true self as the rational self Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD) was a Philosopher and a Roman emperor from the Stoic school of philosophy. As a Stoic, he emphasized the importance of maintaining inner peace, accepting fate calmly, freedom from the power of emotions, and being in harmony with the cos...

 MARÍAS (1914-2005)  THEMES ON THIS PAGE:  1. PHILOSOPHIZING INCLUDES ITS HISTORY 2. THE EXPERIENCE OF LIFE 3. TRUTH 4. AUTHENTICITY Julián Marías (1914-2005) was a Spanish philosopher, a student of Ortega y Gasset, and a major thinker of the so-called Madrid School. The Spanish Civil War interrupted his philosophy stu...

    Jean Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Emile The true self as the natural self Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) was born in Geneva and developed many of his philosophical views in Paris. His philosophy had a profound influence on modern political and social thought, and on education. His conception of the self and authenticity ...

My true self is my freedom to define myself Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-1980) was an important French existentialist philosopher, political activist, novelist and playwright. In his student years, while studying philosophy and other fields at École Normale Supérieure, he met Simone de Beauvoir, who became his life-long companion and lover. The two maint...