real or genuine.
i'm reading a book where the protagonist is remembering his grandfather's funeral. his grandfather is laid out in his best clothes (his parents have already passed on). the protagonist, at this time, was a pre-teen. his grandfather was wealthy, a very proud, dignified man. as the grandfather moved on in years, he lost some of that. he, in a sense, became un-recognizable to the protagonist. at the funeral, as he was laid out, the protagonist said that his grandfather looked authentic.
a good friend of the family's father/grandfather is not doing well. physically. mentally. it was said, something to the fact, about remembering him the way he was. not the way he is now. authentic?
what is the manner of this word to the self? how is the self not real or not genuine? better yet...is there a real or genuine self?
the question of self has been hashed out over many times over many drinks. who are we? what is the self? but this is beyond the point at hand.
the point at hand is...what kind of authenticity do we gain, or re-gain at the time of our death? objectively speaking. doesn't the subjective point of perception include our 'whole' self. by whole i mean the self that encompasses the span of our life. what ever that perception is, is part of our self. this remembering is only 'part' of our 'whole.' the part that we choose to examine, and remember. does not authenticity, in this sense, become what we choose to remember what was best or most memorable about the person?
[shalom...]
16.2.07
authenticity...
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How could we regain any authenticity of self at the time of death? "We" (speaking as the deceased) are gone--there is no "self" present in death. That person isn't there/isn't all there. The spirit/life-force/motivating factor is gone. Any authenticity gained is merely in the minds of those left behind. It's the reconciling of the strongest memories and images of the person in question with what they had become over the years. Time and life can diminish a person or a change in the observer can affect how someone's viewed. In the former case the persons "authentic" state actually changes and in the second nothing may change except for the observer. In your closing I think you hit upon the common view of what is considered authentic, it the sense of the person as opposed to the reality of the person.
I really should comment more here...
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