Philosophers have been debating the merits of authenticity since Plato.
Steve Poole’s essay “Why are we so obsessed with the pursuit of authenticity?” explores the obsession with authenticity in contemporary culture and how it influences our perception of reality. Poole states:
The self-appointed guardians of authenticity, it seems, want desperately to believe that they are at the top of the labour pyramid. In cultural markets that are all too disappointingly accessible to the masses, the authenticity fetish disguises and renders socially acceptable a raw hunger for hierarchy and power.
Poole’s essay deconstructs marketing labels such as “artisan,” “authentic,” and “real,” and shows how words such as these are overvalued and have been reduced to empty rhetoric for branding.
