Authenticity: The Courage to Choose Yourself.

The Philosophy of Authenticity, According to Sartre's Existentialism

"You must live authentically."

You've likely heard this phrase before. It's said so often that it can start to feel a bit cliché. But if you're asked, "What does that really mean?" it’s not so easy to answer.

Authenticity isn't just about 'being honest with your feelings.' It has a deeper, more fundamental meaning. It is the attitude of choosing the life you truly want and taking full responsibility for the consequences of that choice.

Jean-Paul Sartre's existentialism delved deep into the essence of this authenticity. His philosophy can be summarized in just two words: Freedom, and Responsibility.

Like an Actor on an Empty Stage

Sartre once said, "Man is condemned to be free."

This means that there is no predetermined destiny or essence for us. We are like actors thrown onto an empty stage without a script. What role we play, what lines we say, and what ending we move toward—it all depends entirely on our choices.

This is the absolute freedom given to humans. However, this freedom can sometimes feel like an unbearable weight. Because there is no set answer, it means we must create all the answers for ourselves.

And the outcome is entirely our own. It is a complete responsibility for which we can blame no one and nothing else. This is the starting point of an authentic life.

How, then, can we practice this grand philosophical concept in our daily lives?

A life of authenticity isn't a grand declaration. It reveals itself in a continuous series of small choices.

Career The courage to pursue work that makes your heart race, even if it’s uncertain, when the stable job that others envy is slowly crushing your spirit.

Relationships The resolve to let go of the desire to be a good person to everyone and to step away from relationships that exhaust you.

Values The resilience to establish your own standards of happiness and to defend them, rather than blindly following the standards of success set by society.

At the center of all these choices is not the approval of others, but the voice of your own self. And it is followed by the responsibility to accept whatever results from those choices and to love it as your life.

In the end, living authentically is not about becoming a 'perfect version of yourself.'

Rather, it is closer to an attitude of embracing all the processes as 'my story'—acknowledging your imperfections, wandering in the face of countless choices, and even feeling regret at times.

It is choosing the excitement and slight anxiety of drawing your own map instead of the security of following a pre-drawn path.

That is the path of an artist creating their own unique life. It is the path we all aspire to walk.