ABSTRACT
This chapter includes the fake brand in the larger category of inauthentic object. It discusses the force that the notion of authentic self has in modern culture and details how the authenticity of self is linked with the authenticity of object. The common notion of inauthentic object implies an intention to deceive: this object is produced and displayed with the intention of making someone believe it is indiscernibly identical with another object. In the common understanding, inauthentic objects materialize an intention to deceive. This intention has always prompted moral condemnation. Different concepts and concerns played a role in the elaboration of this understanding. Engagements with inauthentic objects were understood as attempts to live through means other than those culturally, morally, and legally sanctioned. In the modern world, to be authentic, that is, to be true to one's self, is a notion around which many people build meaningful lives.
