On Necessity as a Possibility and The Singularity of Authenticity

Jargon jargon jargon. Forgive the flashy title.

Two things. First, I was thinking tonight that necessary action, paradoxically, is a possibility, an option that we can choose from. Because we all know that there are many different things that we could do. But among those many things, there is the possibility that one of those options could appear itself to us as necessary. It is possible that one course of action could be justified only by saying "this is what I have to do."

Basically, there seems to be a way that necessity could be a possibility, an option, and not pure necessity.

It becomes a different kind of necessity: The necessity of what we know about ourselves.

This idea of necessity as a possibility or option leads me to my second question, the question of authenticity.

Second thing. I ask this: Is it possible for there to be more than one authentic action open to an individual? Or are there actions that are more authentic than other actions? Is there a maximally authentic action that we can perform?

To me it seems like the answer is no. Authenticity is singular. The idea of authenticity points to a way that things must be. There are degrees of authenticity, no doubt. It isn't as simple as saying 'this action is totally inauthentic and this one is authentic'.

But there are some actions that are more authentic than other actions. There is a course of action that is most authentic. And that most authentic seems to be pretty particular, pretty singular.

If we grasp ourselves, and grasp what it is that is most authentic, then we have to do it. We have to be true to ourselves.

It appears to me that in any given moment there is only one course of action that is truly authentic. Authenticity is singular.

These ideas are complimentary. To perceive action as necessary, to see necessity as a possible course of action, and to believe that authenticity is singular, are compatible ideas.

They both point to Collingwood's notion of duty. They imply that there is a form of action in which possibility and necessity overlap, leading us to do the only thing we can do.

Both of these things, moreover, find there most powerful reference in the idea of self-knowledge. If we truly understand ourselves we perceive options, but we know that one of those options is what we must do, that one of those options will be the most authentic expression of who we are and what we understand about our situation.

I am trying here to unravel Collingwood's claim that "A man's duty on a given occasion is the act which for him is both possible and necessary: the act which at that moment character and circumstance combine to make it inevitable, if he has a free will, that he should freely will to do." It seems to me that I can move closer to solving this problem of duty by asking about the question of authenticity, by asking if there is more than one course of action that can be considered authentic. I don't have a robust answer to this question, but my tentative answer is no. Authentic action is singular, not plural.

The idea of authentic action, that is, action based on a deep understanding of self and world, is action that can be perceived as both possible and necessary.

Duty is authentic action. It is action that is owed to the self based on deep knowledge of the self.

Duty and authenticity. A great pairing, one I'm happy to have come to tonight.