Ms. Blaze-C writes at length about the hooey of "the search for the authentic... the dominant moral imperative of our age," in Andrew Potter's book - The Authenticity Hoax: How we get lost finding ourselves - clever title.
And Jay-Z is its CEO?
Potter's book premise, likely, could just as easily been a column. The "excellently named Kathryn Blaze Carlson," Potter gushed on his blog, does that for us, saving the 30 bucks we would have spent on his book.
I doubt Potter consulted Immanuel Kant before making the statement he did. But, when you come from his point-of-view - the advertising age - then authenticity in advertising is the moral imperative of our being. That's sad.
I doubt Immanuel Kant imaged his concept of moral imperative used so off-handedly. He'd certainly never have imaged hip-hop or the looming figure of Mr. Z, the most famous hip-hop artist ever, as moral imperative's front-man. Moral imperative is BIG philosophy. Jay-Z shills the ersatz authenticity that Blaze-C writes about Potter writing about. It's branding to ellicit a consumer reaction. Where I'm from, branding is what you do to cattle., and not the same as the free will that compels Kant's principle.
Authenticity, as a Kantian moral imperative, won't be found by today's mob seeking ox-blood tinged floors, organic orange juice, safaris and hot yoga, or Jay-Z's endorsement of Budweizer - the beer of da 'hood. Morality is not a bio-degradable label or an awards show shout-out to god. If it is, then we're, sadly, not up to Kant's highest expectations.
Moral imperative is rational, Kant argued. Rationality demands that we promote the highest good, and we can and ought to bring it about. It demands that we do it because it is the highest good.
You might think your do-gooding is acheiving humanus authentikos, but unless you have a conception of the end your high-horse is heading, you're a donkey. You can't buy a ticket to go knock, knock, knocking on heaven's door. Can't be done.
Today's virtuous authenticity seekers think they're the genuine article just by being seen installing an outhouse in their New York condo - to protest modern plumbing, no less. Look at our biffy! We have acheived status as believers in the highest good. Our lives are not miserable! These are the true authenticity achievers? If they knew the truth, that their biffy could not help a moral universe, they'd be sad. Their moral motivation to buy a 15 dollar jar of lowbush blueberry jam or $400 Reeboks would be undermined. Their fickle faith in the moral imperative of our age, consumerism, sad though it may be, would be proven false.
Sorry, we can't achieve the highest good listening to people like Potter use BIG philosophy to sell a book about advertising. Moral imperative, indeed - I'm not buying.
Source: A companion to philosophy of religion
Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=2917185&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NP_Top_Stories+%28National+Post+-+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=FeedBurner+user+view#ixzz0lUdyV0aY
http://authenticityhoax.squarespace.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tmc8rJgxUI
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