Berman is an engaging writer who has much to say about the writings of others. Unfortunately he plunks us in the middle of a dialectic between Montesquieu and Rousseau's work without ever setting the ground rules of the argument.

The idea of 'authenticity' is as ambiguous as ideasa can get. Often weaponized to excuse poor behaviour, authenticity is a slippery eel that even a subject when asked likely cannot easily identify in themselves. Am I being my true self? Am I truly making my own decisions? What even IS free will and how does that create implications for authenticity?

The argument from Montesquieu is far clearer than that of Rousseau. In his analysis, Berman is clearly honing in on the inauthenticity of totalitarian regimes and the reversal of fortune that can break down social order when the oppressed seek authenticity.

On the other hand, Rousseau is complaining about society as a corruption of the human condition without any redeeming values. While he doesn't think we are going to be able to repeal society as a whole, he continues a fruitless search for an objective, permanent 'thou' that simply cannot exist. Second order desires and mental illness not withstanding, the fluid nature of the human condition simply cannot support such a stringent view of authenticity. What is frustrating about this book is that Berman never calls Rousseau out on this point. ( )