1773. On "True" and "Authentic"

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On "True" and "Authentic"

1. I propose to use "true" and its cognates as qualifying a belief of an assertion insofar as it corresponds to reality.

2. "Authentic" and its cognates, by contrast, I propose to use as qualifying human existence (= self-understanding, or faith), insofar as it is realistic, and thus in accordance with ultimate reality.

3. I propose to define the two terms in relation to one another as follows:

     (1) human existence (= self-understanding, or faith) is authentic if, and only if, the metaphysical beliefs it implies are true, even as the moral actions it implies are right or just; and

     (2) metaphysical beliefs are true, even as moral actions are right or just, if, and only if, the human existence (= self-understanding, or faith) implying them is authentic.

28 June 1980; rev. 02/19/96