PHIL 303: Authenticity

Wellesley College | Fall 2018 |

DRAFT, SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Fakes, forgeries, copies, knockoffs, imposters, posers, carpetbaggers, phonies: we have so many words for people and things that we judge to be inauthentic. But what exactly is authenticity? What, if anything, is valuable about it? In this course, we will explore the concept of authenticity as it surfaces in art, nature, food, culture, love, politics, history, and experience in an attempt to determine what is at stake in being the real deal.

Readings:

1. September 5th

Introduction: The Authentic Object and the Authentic Self

• Lisa Heldke, "Two Concepts of Authenticity"

2. September 12th

The Authentic Object 1: Copies and Covers

• Karen Gover, "Are All Multiples the Same? The Problematic Nature of the Limited Edition"
• Matt Strohl, "On Culinary Authenticity"
• Barry Lam, HiPhi Nation podcast, "Cover me Softly"

3. September 19th

The Authentic Object 2: Fakes and Forgeries

• Byung-Chul Han, "The Copy is the Original"
• Sherri Irvin, "Forgery and the Corruption of Aesthetic Understanding"

4. September 26th

The Authentic Object 3: Historical Authenticity

• Carolyn Korsmeyer, "Touch and the Experience of the Genuine"
• Shannon Lee Dawdy, "The Antique Fetish” in Patina: A Profane Archaeology
• Sian Jones, "Negotiating Authentic Objects and Authentic Selves"

5. October 3rd

The Authentic Object 4: Nature

• William Cronon, “The Trouble with Wilderness; or Getting Back to the Wrong Nature”
• Thom van Dooren, "Authentic Crows: Identity, Captivity and Emergent Forms of Life"

6. October 10th

The Authentic Self 1: Existentialist Roots

• "Authenticity," section 3.2. "Sartre and de Beauvoir" in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Jean Paul Sartre, "Existentialism is a Humanism"
• Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, Introduction and "The Independent Woman"

7. October 17th

The Authentic Self 2: Posers and Sheep

• Nick Riggle, "On the Aesthetic Ideal"
• Madeleine Ransom “Frauds, Posers, and Sheep: A Virtue Theoretic Solution to the Acquaintance Debate”

8. October 24th

The Authentic Self 3: Sincerity, Sellouts, and the Curated Self

• Lauren Bialystok, "Refuting Polonius: Sincerity, Authenticity, and 'Schtick'"
• Jay Owens, "The Age of Post-Authenticity and the Ironic Truths of Meme Culture"
• Toby Shorin, "After Authenticity"

9. October 31st

The Authentic Self 4: Race, Culture, and Identity

• Paul C. Taylor, "Roots and Routes: Disarming Authenticity" in Black is Beautiful
• Emily S. Lee, "The Ambiguous Practices of the Inauthentic Asian-American Woman"

10. November 7th

The Authentic Self 5: Passing

• Adrian Piper, "Passing for White, Passing for Black"
• Daniel Silvermint, "Passing as Privileged"

11. November 14th

The Authentic Self 6: Love and Autonomy

• Harry Frankfurt, "Autonomy, Necessity, and Love"
• Monique Wonderly, "Love and Attachment"
• Marina Oshana, "Autonomy and the Question of Authenticity"

12. November 28th

Peer Editing

13. December 5th

Peer Editing