Becoming More Authentic:

(Minneapolis, MN: Existential Books: Existential Books, 2007—5th edition)
(Library of Congress call number: B105.A8P37 2007)
(ISBN: 978-0-89231-105-7)
(large format paperback (8.5" X 11")

    Becoming More Authentic is the first (and still the only) book
to give a systematic account of the concept of Authentic Existence
as defined in existential philosophy and psychology.

    In PART I, Authenticity is defined by 23 features,
which are explained in the course of the first two chapters.
These chapters also contain an Authenticity Test,
which is intended to enable the careful reader
to assess his or her present degree of Authenticity.

SELECTED QUESTIONS FROM THE AUTHENTICITY TEST

    PART II of the book explores
several possible Authentic projects-of-being.

    PART III presents Authenticity
as described by five different existential thinkers:
Camus, Sartre, Heidegger, Kierkegaard, & Maslow.

    The following items from Becoming More Authentic
are available on line.
Just click the parts you would be most interested in seeing.
These pages total about 25% of the book.

Copyright Page—Classification SUBJECTS for this book . 2

Introduction. 3

Authenticity Defined—Original Existence vs. Authentic Existence. 4

PART I A DEFINITION OF AUTHENTIC EXISTENCE
AND AN AUTHENTICITY TEST 7

Ch. 1 From Conformity to Autonomy 8

SELECTED QUESTIONS FROM THE AUTHENTICITY TEST

Ch. 2 Centering and Integrating 18

PART II AUTHENTIC PROJECTS-OF-BEING 28

Ch. 3 Creating An Authentic Project 29

I. Some Steps toward Developing an Authentic Project-of-Being. 29

A. Taking a Time-Inventory. 29

B. Beginning to Re-Design Our Lives. 30

C. Considering Several Possible Ultimate Concerns. 30

D. Keeping a Journal of Our Quest for Authenticity. 31

II. The Danger of Getting Lost in the Future. 31

III. The Danger of Conformity. 33

Ch. 5 Helping Children Grow Toward Authenticity 36

I. Alternative Parents. 37

II. An Authenticity School. 39

I. How We Might Become Authenticity Counselors. 41

II. Some Problems to be Avoided or Overcome. 41

I. A Love Counseling Service. 42

II. Group Counseling. 43

III. Resource Center. 43

I. Intellectual Liberation. 46

II. Support Groups. 47

III. Liberated Journalism. 48

Ch. 11 Companions for the Dying 50

Ch. 12 Working for the Right-to-Die 52

Ch. 13 Other Projects 55

Ch. 14 Authenticity and Occupation 57

I. Work as Normally Experienced in Our Culture. 57

II. Occupation as a Way to Actualize Authentic Projects. 58

III. Work as an Obstacles to Authentic Existence
        and the Option of Voluntary Poverty. 58

PART III FIVE VERSIONS OF AUTHENTIC EXISTENCE 60

Ch. 15 Albert Camus: Rebelling Against the Absurd 60

I. Three Dimensions of Authentic Existence according to Camus. 61

A. Scorn of the Gods—Rejection of Absolutes. 61

B. Hatred of Death. 63

C. Passion for Life. 64

II. Authentic Existence in Camus' Fiction. 65

A. The Stranger. 65

B. The Plague. 65

Bad Faith—Inauthenticity. 68

I. Inauthenticity. 70

II. Awakening from our Lostness in the 'They' 70

A. Existential or Primordial Guilt. 72

B. Existential Anxiety or Angst. 74

C. Ontological Anxiety or Being-Towards-Death. 74

D. Our Quest for Wholeness. 75

III. Authenticity—Resoluteness. 76

A. Re-Possessing Our Selves. 76

B. Choosing Authentically. 77

C. Resoluteness. 78

I. Success is Not One Thing. 79

II. Getting Distracted by Extrinsic Rewards. 82

III. Acting from Fear of Disapproval. 83

IV. Self-Centered 'Authenticity'. 84

V. Half-Hearted Commitment—Lost in Busyness. 84

VI. Living as an Individual. 85

VII. Authenticity as Process, Not Conclusion. 87

VIII. Existential Christian Appendix. 89

I. Are All my Deficiency-Needs Satisfied (or Transcended)? 90

II. Am I Pursuing a Meaning Beyond Myself? 92

III. Am I More Concerned with Being than with Seeming? 93

IV. Have I Moved from Conformity to Autonomy? 94