“From Being to Being, Authentically” – Ecstatic Dasein and Distantiality by Paul King.

Everyone wonders how they’re doing in life, from time to time. These can involve thoughts like “what’s it all about”, or “am I enough”, “have I got this all wrong”. Some will be absolutely sure they have found their ‘tribe’ or identify with a theistic or atheistic tradition, a political movement, a race, or nationality, or even a sports team. Most will waiver somewhat between these. Authenticity has been a buzzword for some time. We’ve had trends like ‘bring your whole self to work’, as well as many fractured and often oppositional group identities which people are more or less ‘in with’ from time to time.

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Our presenter this week, Paul King MSc (psych) will give a fundamental analysis of “Being” and suggest that Authenticity is an active choice between falling into step with pre-existing ideas and traditions and understanding that our Being is not the static inner-self (to be discovered) that religion, and mainstream and pop-psychology alike, suggest. This dynamic feeling of having individual and group identity is called Distantiality. This word first came to light for Paul during his 2022 MSc (psych) re-investigating “Imposter Syndrome”, and it is now at the centre of his current thesis for an MLitt (philosophy).