Self-Knowledge (Essay‪)‬

The aspiration to self-knowledge was at the centre of all reflection for the classical Greek philosophers. All knowledge or desire for knowledge, which is not merely instrumental, must proceed only from a genuine passion, a genuine awareness of what one is and could be. While there is in our time an unusual emphasis on the self, nothing better characterises that emphasis than the denial of the possibility of self-knowledge. This denial has deep roots in the fundamental theses of modern thought, which in turn issue from a critique of the classics. If we wish to think seriously about ourselves, our most urgent task is to re-examine these respective viewpoints. I