Definitions HQ

Self-knowledge (n.) was, ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠paradoxically, a means of renouncing the self.

Self-knowledge (n.) is, ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠for Plato, the key to an essential memory: you know yourself in order to recognize what you already knew.

Self-knowledge (n.) swallowed ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the care of the self whole in Plato's Alcibiades: 'take care of yourself' ended up meaning nothing but 'know yourself'.

Self-knowledge (n.) runs ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠through the divine for Plato: to see yourself you must look at the source of thought, and that source is god.

Self-knowledge (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the toll at philosophy's gate: the labour you do on yourself is what you pay to advance in knowing anything else.

Self-knowledge (n.) is, ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠in Plato, the soul seeing itself in the mirror of the intelligible and recognizing itself there.

Self-knowledge (n.) came ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠to the Stoic by memorizing rules; it came to the Christian penitent by violent rupture and dissociation.

Self-knowledge (n.) and ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠care of the self are not rivals but a tangle, each calling up the other; the trouble starts when either is dropped to favour the other.

Self-knowledge (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠fraught. For people know what they do, and frequently they know why they do what they do, but they do not know what they do does.

Self-knowledge (n.) was ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠only one part of an older and wider question than "know thyself": What should I do with myself, and what work must I carry out on myself?

Self-knowledge (n.) was ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠for the ancients a consequence of caring for oneself; the modern world turned the order upside down and made it the founding principle.

Self-knowledge (n.) came ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠packaged in the West with knowledge of things: knowing madness while becoming a rational subject, knowing illness while becoming a living one, knowing the economy while becoming a laboring one.

Self-knowledge (n.) turns, ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠in Christianity, in a circle: the heart must be purified to understand the Word, yet the Word must be received before the heart can be purified.

Self-knowledge (n.) read ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠on its own breeds a false history — a straight line from Plato to Husserl via Descartes, or to Freud via Augustine — when for the Greeks it never stood apart from the care of the self.

Self-knowledge (n.) became, ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠in Christianity, not the joyful recognition of the divine within but the constant anxiety of suspicion: reading oneself for traces of the fall and of the Devil.

Self-knowledge (n.) was, ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠in antiquity, not yet the exegesis of the soul: the ancients asked not for a new object of knowledge but for the same knowledge of the world working differently on the one who knows.