The Authentic Self

Philosopher Robert Ehman looks at the familiar topics of personal identity, morality, sexuality, love, and death from a new perspective: that of the unique, irreplaceable value of each individual self as distinguished from the anonymity of our impersonal world. Ehman defines the authentic self as something more than the locus of spatial-temporal identity, the agent of action, the object of moral duties and respect, or the sum total of personal projects, achievements, social function, and status. What makes the self authentic can be discovered by contrasting who we really are - as irreplaceable individuals with uniquely personal perspectives - with the stereotyped roles we must play in an essentially technological world, where one individual can easily be substituted for another.