Another beautifully written and thought provoking essay! Thank you. The first part on the nihilism perspective reminded me of something I once heard the author David Sedaris say. I expect he might have heard it somewhere else, but he said as part of a story (on authenticity, I believe): “Be yourself. Unless you’re an asshole; then be someone else.” Perfect, I thought. 😉. We all have known people who are assholes (asocial and anti-social behavior) who justify their actions and treatment of others based on “being authentic.”
Yes, exactly--be yourself, and whoever that is, if it's your true self, you're unlikely to be an asshole. Thanks for the thoughtful comments, as always.
Another beautifully written and thought provoking essay! Thank you. The first part on the nihilism perspective reminded me of something I once heard the author David Sedaris say. I expect he might have heard it somewhere else, but he said as part of a story (on authenticity, I believe): “Be yourself. Unless you’re an asshole; then be someone else.” Perfect, I thought. 😉. We all have known people who are assholes (asocial and anti-social behavior) who justify their actions and treatment of others based on “being authentic.”
Yes, exactly--be yourself, and whoever that is, if it's your true self, you're unlikely to be an asshole. Thanks for the thoughtful comments, as always.