Know Thyself

It is said that Socrates once visited the oracle of Delphi, where he was told the most important task in his life was to know his real self. To know the real self is perhaps the ultimate goal of philosophy. If we don't know who we are, how can we solve the mysteries of life and help other people?For Socrates knowing thyself was more than a mere intellectual quest. It was an idea that shaped his life and inner attitude. He was never satisfied with accepting outer appearances and conventional wisdom, but always strove for a deeper understanding of his real Self.Above all, Socrates taught us not accept our existing thoughts as true. Step back and reevaluate the truth and veracity of your opinions and beliefs. Seek to know your real self and seek truth. It is a lofty philosophy, but one that has retained an enduring appeal and fascination through the ages.Tejvan Pettinger is a member of the Sri Chinmoy Meditation Centre. He lives in Oxford where he works as a teacher. He also offers mediation classes as a community service and updates a blog at Sri Chinmoy Inspiration a collection of articles on meditation and self improvement.


Read More Here: Philosophy of Socrates - PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement

---------- Post added 08-29-2009 at 03:44 PM ----------

- Socrates' guiding rule was, "Know Thyself." These words are of eternal significance. No better advice has ever been give to man or woman. When one begins to explore this dictate it leads to profound understandings about all of creation. It makes unhappiness, fear, sadness, doubt, and all the negative emotions meaningless.

Read More Here: Know Thyself

Where or when did Socrates say, "know thyself"? Have you any citation for that? The words, "Know thyself" (in Greek) were inscribed on the portico of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. They were there long before Socrates was even born.

He did not coin the term, "Gnothi Seauton", however he used it in his teachings. I will have to look for a quote from him, but his general idea was to get to know the self.

Jamie

But how does one increase awareness of oneself?

Moshe Feldenkrais knew that moment of impasse. He knew how to set it up. And he gloried in its ramifications. More than once Feldenkrais echoed Socrates', "Know thyself." It wasn't through the mere mouthing of words that Feldenkrais linked himself to the founder of Western thought. It was how that impasse could be made to appear, how one acted in the face of it and what one learned from it that made Feldenkrais's connection to the Greek philosopher an intimate one. The peculiar emergence of an impasse, that loss of way, within the field of a lesson is not incidental to a lesson's construct. The Socratic method and Socratic dialogue at the beginning of Western thought utilized their particular approach to answering the need of how to 'Know Thyself.'

aporia or awareness of an impasse in thought: subjectively, a bewilderment or puzzlement." [1]


In other words, Socrates wasn't arguing to either refute a position or clarify an alternative position. He wanted to negate the holding of positions. He wanted the person to realize that the holding of contradictory positions was based upon no more certainty than the ignorance of those contradictions. So to speak, the certainty of the conflict is taken as a surrogate for the certainty which comes through self understanding.

Read More Here: SemioPhysics Articles - KNOW THYSELF: The Risk of Serious Inquiry

I cannot find it in any of his dialogues, however, he must have said it if numerous people have quoted him saying it dealing with philosophy. I have scanned numerous articles in my college archive of peer reviewd articles and scholoarly publications and there are various quotes of socrates saying "know thyself".

Jamie

There are? If they say it, they are wrong. But who says it? Any names?

After a search I came up with Plato's Republic where he quotes Socrates saying "Know thyself" and continues on with Socrates' general idea of knowing thyself.

Hereupon Socrates exclaimed: "Tell me, Euthydemus, have you ever been to Delphi?"
"Yes, certainly; twice."
"Then did you notice somewhere on the temple the inscription 'Know Thyself'?"
"I did."
"And did you pay no heed to the inscription, or did you attend to it and try to consider who you were?"
"Indeed I did not; because I felt sure that I knew that already; for I could hardly know anything else if I did not even know myself."
[25] "And what do you suppose a man must know to know himself, his own name merely? Or must he consider what sort of creature he is ..." (Tr. E. C. Marchant)

If you goto socratean quote pages, It lists socrates as saying "know thyself".

Jamie

Is knowing yourself worthwhile? Why or why not? Do you try to know yourself? How do you inquire? What have you learned? Has it changed as you grew older?

Does knowing thyself simply mean becoming aware of what and who you are, or does it imply an obligation to actually make an effort to become who and what you are?

What if a person gets to know their self and discovers darkness and cruelty there.

What if a person gets to know their self and discovers darkness and cruelty there.

I believe that we all have opposites within us. They manifest together. I also believe that the extreme of one will manifest in the extreme of the other - like a pendulum. So, I try to be aware of those things that I may be extreme about and try to moderate them. I try not to want or desire too much of anything by simply being aware of it. But even this notion I am aware of. Being aware seems to moderate.

Rich

I agree with the notion that we all have both light and darkness within us but I don't agree with the extremity views.

I see the extremes as the exact opposites of each other instead of a blend. I sort of take the stand that there is a middle blend of the two and it is up to us which direction that pendulum tends to swing from there. And I do think that it matters which way we strive to make it swing.

It is the xtremes of either that create more imbalance, and although I would say that there should be more of a swing toward the light, that also does not tend toward a good balance either. So I am not sure how the balancing act plays into this scenario.

What I do know is that extreme darkness is not a good environment or state for the human soul or the human species.

yeah I am more in line with that portrayal than the swinging pendulum.

I may be coming at the idea of "Know Thyself" from another angle than many of the others speaking to this here, more of a metaphysical angle if you will.

In my way of seeing this we have two selves, one being the finite self that changes and adapts constantly over time, or the ego self, and another more constant or infinite Self that never changes or is not becoming.

Subjectivity9