Today we welcome philosopher Skye Cleary. She is a lecturer at Columbia University and the City College of New York. Skye is the author of Existentialism and Romantic Love and co-editor of How to Live a Good Life. Her writing has appeared in The Paris Review, Aeon, Business Insider, TED-Ed, and The Los Angeles Review of Books, among other outlets.
In 2021, she was a MacDowell Fellow and In 2017, she won the New Philosopher Writers’ Award. Her latest book is called How to Be Authentic.
In this episode, I talk to Skye Cleary about Simone de Beauvoir’s life and how it has informed her existentialist philosophy. As a feminist during the forties, Simone was passionate about freedom of choice. It’s not a surprise then that her definition of authenticity also revolves around self-determination. Authenticity is not about finding a true self, but rather a process of creating who we want to be. We also touch on the topics of gender, power, social justice, narcissism, and fulfillment.
Website: skyecleary.com
Twitter: @Skye_Cleary
Topics
- French existentialist philosophy
- “One is not born, but rather becomes, woman”
- Creating our essence
- Transcending our impulses
- Creative rebellion
- Skye’s Critique of Simone de Beauvoir
- Authenticity is responsible freedom
- Power and freedom
- Skye’s background in philosophy
- Intersubjectivity: the foundation of ethical relations
- Inauthenticity, social media, narcissism
- Windows of freedom, genetics, motherhood
- Fulfillment is embracing life