To "Know Thyself"

 

If most of us remain ignorant of ourselves,

it is because self knowledge is painful and

we prefer the pleasures of illusion."

~Aldous Huxley

Aldous Leonard Huxley, (born July 26, 1894 in Godalming, Surrey (England); † November 22, 1963 in Los Angeles) was a British writer and philosopher.

Philosophical Term

For the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, self-knowledge is the condition of morality. The motto Gnothi seauton (“Know Thyself”), handed down by Heraclitus and often attributed to Thales or the Seven Wise Men, adorned the entrance of the ancient Temple of Apollo at Delphi. The demand for self-knowledge is thus one of the oldest and still most important demands of philosophy on the individual.

Epistemologically, the philosophical structure of self-knowledge is based on turning the knowledge process back to the person who knows it (see also hermeneutics). The incentive for this recognition is to overcome the "subject-object split". According to Karl Jaspers, self-reflection lies "within the comprehensive relationship of the conscious and unconscious".[5] In this respect, the subject-object split also exists within ourselves, precisely in the inner opposition between conscious and unconscious, not just in our always imperfect relationship to the outside world.

Psychoanalysis

In the sense of psychoanalysis, self refers to ideas about oneself and one's relationships with the environment. Self-knowledge in this context is the acquisition of knowledge about one's own psychological abilities, possibilities and realities. It is a prerequisite for self-realization. In psychoanalysis as a treatment method, the ability for self-knowledge and self-reflection is a basic requirement for the success of the treatment. Even if a person has the ability for self-knowledge, this is made more difficult by inner resistance that wants to oppose the acknowledgment of unpleasant details about oneself or the environment.

Mysticism

Self-knowledge can also be viewed as the result of the experience of timelessness in the sense of mysticism. For Plotinus, the state of timelessness is characterized by complete self-knowledge, being present and letting go of desires and ideas about the future. Similar statements can be found in many writings by theologians, mystics and the Philosophia perennis. In order to realize the "birth of God in the soul," Master Eckhart teaches, one must remove the notion of time from everyday life. The experience of timelessness requires the task of identification with sense perceptions, and in a certain sense also with reason or knowledge, thus the basis of everyday experience and science.