Logic, the True Self, and Authenticity
Can logic help you be more authentic? That one might sound a bit weird, but I think there’s an intriguing thought to explore. Authenticity is a complex concept with multiple interpretations. While logic might help in figuring out the coherence of concepts or definitions of authenticity, as it often does, this is not what I want to think about this morning. I’m curious to ask whether logic, or logical thinking, can inspire a novel way of thinking about authenticity.
To contrast with a common notion of authenticity will help situate what I mean. You might have heard people claiming the empowerment of “being your true self,” which I take to mean liberating your core identity instead of repressing, suppressing, or hiding it. But truth is very demanding. I don’t really know what my “true self” is, and having strong philosophical inclinations towards the expression of such slogans, I find myself wondering what a self is and what it means for it to be true. Is there something essential about me that makes me who I am and that I have to respect and honour? What does it mean to be a “true” self, as opposed to what? A false self? A fake self? A constructed self?
Instead, here’s my thought with using logic. Logic and truth are two different and independent things. In Logic in the Wild, I advocate for logical thinking to liberate communication and interaction in society from being clashes of opinions and disagreements of beliefs. Instead, logic provides a “neutral space of dialectical enquiry,” where neutrality means a suspension of belief, a retraction of strong opinions, for the dialectical pursuit of shared agreement and coherence. Coherence is the key word here, and this is what logic offers to the enquiring mind: to seek and settle for coherence when truth is out of reach.
Why not adopt the same approach towards how we are in the world? Instead of thinking of authenticity as the expression of a “true self,” could we think of it as the coherent experience of our being? We change all the time, we adopt different roles in society, at work, with friends, or with family. We learn new things, we forget old ones. We are in constant flux. Finding a stable “true identity” in that constant flux can be a Sisyphean task, one that starts all over again as soon as we think we’ve got it. But coherence doesn’t require fixity. Coherence is what helps us sustain change, to respond in patterns we expect and understand, to act in ways we control, to own ourselves.
Instead of seeking to be your “true self,” then, here’s the exercise I propose towards authenticity: seek to be a “coherent self.”
