Shaw Beau Carmel author Columbia University. Philosophy Carman Taylor thesis advisor Barnard College. Philosophy (Barnard College) Columbia University. Philosophy originator text Dissertations 2012 English My dissertation offers a critique of the concept of authenticity that Martin Heidegger develops in Being and Time. The concept of authenticity has been critiqued for many reasons--mainly for political, moral, and ideological reasons. My dissertation develops, on the other hand, a conceptual critique: I argue that the concept of authenticity is a paradoxical concept. I argue, more precisely, that it is paradoxical, as the concept of authenticity proposes, for a person to confront, transparently and determinedly, his or her own death, while, at the same time, being able to be an individual--understanding him or herself as an individual, and making autonomous choices. In offering this critique, I provide interpretations of some of the basic concepts in Being and Time that break from conventional interpretations or are new. For example, I interpret the concept of inauthenticity from the perspective of the psychoanalytic idea of mania. Ultimately, however, I provide philosophical, or conceptual reasons to resist a concept with clearly problematic moral and political implications. Ph.D., Columbia University. Philosophy http://hdl.handle.net/10022/AC:P:14686 NNC NNC 2012-09-12 16:09:51 -0400 2012-09-12 16:18:00 -0400 8712 eng