This reflection on the social construction of authenticity analogizes the quest for artistic authenticity to snark hunting. To illustrate the instability of this term, it employs various Canadian examples, including the “Michelangelo” terracotta sculptures donated to the Museum of Vancouver, the “Igloo tag,” the importation of a sculpture by Edward Chukwuweike Madukaego, and the work of Bill Reid. It posits that proclamations of authenticity and fraudulence are ultimately utterances denoting and invoking power relations. It also reveals, through the use of specific examples, how negotiations around artistic authenticity in settler societies can replicate and re-entrench colonialist power.

From the testimony of the Carnets de la drôle de guerre[War Diaries: Notebooks from a Phony War] and the Cahiers pour une morale[Notebooks for an Ethics], this article shows how Sartre uses Stoicism for his philosophical concerns: commitment and responsibility. Sartre’s frequent references to the Stoics, as well as the “stoic” attitude he claims to adopt at the time of mobilization in World War II, attest to the influence of Stoicism. Based on key passages in these two unfinished writings that chronologically frame L’être et le néant[Being and Nothingness], this article shows that Sartre borrows his own moral categories from Stoicism. As he voices it in the Carnets, Sartre attempts to reach a synthesis of Stoicism and authenticity, a key idea in his philosophy.

Sami are indigenous people of Northern Fennoscandia. Some Sami offering sites have been used for over a thousand years. During this time, the offering traditions have changed and various people have started using the places based on different motivations. Present day archaeological finds give evidence of both continuing traditions and new meanings attached to these sites, as well as to sites that were probably not originally used for rituals in the Sami ethnic religion. In some cases, the authenticity of the place seems to lie in the stories and current beliefs more than in a historical continuity or any specifically sacred aspects of the topography or nature it is situated in. Today's new users include, for example, local (Sami) people, tourists, and neo-pagans. This paper discusses what informs these users, what identifies certain locations as offering sites, and what current users believe their relationship to these places should be. What roles do scholarly traditions, heritage tourism, and internal culture have in (re)defining Sami offering sites and similarly what roles do ‘appropriate’ rituals have in ascribing meaning to particular places? How do we mediate wishes for multivocality with our professional opinions when it comes to defining sacredness?

Reproduction of archaeological material was a significant and serious enterprise for antiquarians and museums in the long nineteenth century. Replicas embed many stories and embody considerable past human energy. Behind their creation, circulation, use, and after-life lies a series of specific social networks and relationships that determined why, when, and in what circumstances they were valued, or not. Summarising the context of their production, circulation, and changing fortunes, this article introduces the ways in which replicas are important, and considers the specific benefits and aspects of a biographical approach to their study. Beyond the evidential, the study of existing replicas provides a historical and contemporary laboratory in which to explore the concepts of value and authenticity, and their application in cultural heritage and collections management, offering us a richer insight into the history of ourselves as archaeologists and curators.

Les concepts de compétence, d'autonomie et d'authenticité sont examinés. Diverses définitions du terme « autonomie » sont distinguées, et les auteurs prétendent que deux d'entre elles n'englobent aucun concept différent de la compétence mentale (la capacité de prendre des décisions) et de l'authenticité. L'accent est mis sur la distinction des questions de capacité et de compétence, et sur des cas où une intervention salutaire est justifiée.

In this paper it is argued that the voluntariness of decisions by older adults concerning future levels of health care should be viewed with scepticism, since such decisions are made in contexts of broad coercion. Broad coercion exists where there are asymmetries of power and dependency between groups, where social expectations unduly influence decisions, or where negative stereotyping results in low self esteem. Parallel cases, where broad coercion is acknowledged, are presented. Rather than conclude that older adults can never make voluntary decisions, however, it is suggested that scepticism may be removed by establishing the authenticity of the desires behind their health care choices. Three theories of authentic desire are examined and found inadequate, but a fourth alternative – the “autobiographical approach,” which requires us to uncover the personal metaphors of life and aging of older adults – is found to be more promising.