Authentic Orange

Kylie Titus

Philosophy 150

Final Exam

Authenticity in my opinion is defined as one still being able to be themselves and expressing who they are while still being absorbed in everyday life and experiences. Being able to be authentic is an important part of becoming an individual and growing as a person. The Ethics of Ambiguity by Simone de Beauvior states in the first paragraph that, “since the individual is defined only by his relationship to the world and to other individuals; he exists only by transcending himself, and his freedom can be achieved only through the freedom of others” It is hard to be oneself when it is so easily to get caught up in what everyone else is doing and not letting that influence you, but who you are as an individual is only determined by your actions and how you see the world and your peers.

Becoming an individual today’s society is very difficult. Everyone has such high expectations of everyone. Even if one does something a little bit out of the ordinary or doesn’t follow a certain trend, they will get ridiculed and judged and be thought of as “weird” or “different”. Especially with the use of social media, if somebody posts something that bothers someone else or just seems like something weird to post, everybody starts to talk badly about the person that posted it and associates a certain judgment right away with that individual. People are expected to follow society and do as they are told. What even is considered normal anyway? No one really has a way of knowing; everyone just feels the need to follow everybody else. If a person expresses who they are and stands out in anyway at all, people just judge and talk smack. They expect everyone to be normal and follow “society’s rules” while trying to become successful because if they don’t, they will go nowhere in life. I am guilty of judging others as well and I am not proud of that, but I also know that I have been judged myself for wanting to do certain things or wearing certain clothing. Being authentic here at Oregon State is easy for some people and others not so much. We have a very diverse campus so I see a lot of cultured people wearing different clothing and expressing who they are as individuals and I think that is awesome. Many others however just play follow the leader.

Many of the themes covered in class have to do with being authentic. The existential theme number 1 is Existence precedes essence. This talks about how you become who you make yourself to be. What you are is a result of your actions and thoughts, (5-12-15 ppt). Everyone has a different view of certain people. If its one thing I have learned, its that not to take things personally because whatever someone says to you or how one may act towards you is because of who they are, not who you are. The Look: other objectifies who you are by watching you and listening to you. 1^st person is being for itself and being in itself while 3^rd person is being in itself or object. (5-5-15 ppt). Are we all just objects or subjects? What does our existence really mean? Its up to us to make a meaningful life and being authentic is a big part of that. We all have the freedom to create and choose are own values (5-26-15 ppt). Existential theme number 3 is humanism, which is an individual focused philosophy and the pursuit of identity and freedom and our values and meaning in opposed to social, political and economic pressure for conformity. (5-10-15 ppt). There is so much pressure in the social, political and economical world to be perfect and live up to everyone’s expectations. But humanism in my opinion is known to focus on being your own individual and having your own identity and freedom. Kierkegaard states that the crowd is untruth, which makes the individual unrepentant and irresponsible. (5-5-15 ppt). This means that when following the crowd and trying to satisfy everyone’s needs and wants while ignoring our own values and beliefs one might lose ones authentic self. I feel as if being orange means you are standing out as who you want to be while everyone else who just sticks with what they know and follows everyone is just a boring gray. Being orange is the true color of authenticity.