The great Socratic Maxim, "Know Thyself," is one of the strongest moral
precepts in Ethics. Although the sophists had already called attention to
the fact that "man is the measure of all things," however they applied to
the individual and not to human nature in general. "But Socrates proclaimed
that this self-knowing Ego knows itself likewise as object, as the principle
of the world, in which man is to find himself in order to know it."[27.]
To know one's self implies calmness of self-possession, fearlessness and
independence. Furthermore it leads one to a striking realization of one's
limitations and shortcomings, which form the foundations of success, and, as
Forbes expresses it, "in this self-knowledge is the secret of blessing and
success in the handling of human affairs, and right relationship with
others."[28.]
Socrates, discussing his maxim with Euthydemus, gives a clear and
comprehensive idea of this interesting subject: "Socrates then said: 'Tell
me, Euthydemus, have you ever gone to Delphi?' 'Yes, twice,' replied he.
'And did you observe what is written somewhere on the temple wall, Know
Thyself?' 'I did.' 'And did you take no thought of that inscription, or
did you attend to it, and try to examine yourself to ascertain what sort of
a character you are?' 'I did not indeed try, for I thought that I knew very
well already, since I should hardly know anything else if I did not know
myself.' 'But whether does he seem to you to know himself, who knows his own
name merely, or he who (like people buying horses, who do not think that
they know the horse that they want to know, until they have ascertained
whether he is tractable or unruly, whether he is strong or weak, swift or
slow, and how he is as to other points which are serviceable or
disadvantageous in the use of a horse so he), having ascertained with regard
to himself how he is adapted for the service of mankind, knows his own
abilities?' 'It appears to me, I must confess, that he who does not know his
own abilities, does not know himself.'
" 'But is it not evident,' said Socrates, 'that men enjoy a great number of
blessings in consequence of knowing themselves, and incur a great number of
evils, through being deceived in themselves? For they who know themselves
know what is suitable for them, and distinguish between what they can do and
what they cannot; and, by doing what they know how to do, procure for
themselves what they need, and are prosperous, and by abstaining from what
they do not know, live blamelessly, and avoid being unfortunate. By this
knowledge of themselves too, they can form an opinion of other men, and, by
their experiences of the rest of mankind, obtain for themselves what is
good, and guard against what is evil.'
"But they who do not know themselves, but are deceived in their own powers,
are in similar case with regard to other men, and other human affairs, and
neither understand what they require, nor what they are doing, nor the
character of those with whom they connect themselves, but, being in error as
to all these particulars, they fail to obtain what is good, and fall into
evil.
"They, on the other hand who understand what they take in hand, succeed in
what they attempt, and become esteemed and honoured; those who resemble them
in character willingly form connections with them; those who are
unsuccessful in their affairs desire to be assisted with their advice, and
to prefer them to themselves; they place in them their hopes of good and
love them, on all these accounts, beyond all other men.
"But those, again, who do not know what they are doing, who make an unhappy
choice in life, and are unsuccessful in what they attempt, not only incur
losses and sufferings in their own affairs, but become in consequence,
disreputable and ridiculous, and drag out their lives in contempt and
dishonour. Among states, too, you see that such as, from ignorance of their
own strength, go to war with others that are more powerful, are, some of
them, utterly overthrown, and others reduced from freedom to slavery."[29.]
What Socrates attempts to show, is that self-knowledge is conducive to human
happiness. Indeed, sanity in a broad sense, depends upon insight into one's
true knowledge of his limitation and capacity for adaptation. However,
Socrates holds that madness is not ignorance, but admits that for "A man to
be ignorant of himself, and to fancy and believe that he knew what he did
not know, he considered to be something closely bordering on madness. The
multitude, he observed, do not say that those are mad who make mistakes in
matters of which most people are ignorant, but call those only mad who make
mistakes in affairs with which most people are acquainted; for if a man
should think himself so tall as to stoop when going through the gates in the
city wall, or so strong as to try to lift up houses, or attempt anything
else that is plainly impossible to all men, they say that he is mad; but
those who make mistakes in small matters are not thought by the multitude to
be mad; but just as they call 'strong desire' 'love,' so they call 'great
disorder of intellect' 'madness.' "[30.]
This Socratic principle plays an important role in psychopathology; in
psychoanalysis, what the physician does is to acquaint the patient with the
unconscious mental processes, thus putting him in full knowledge of his
condition to enable him to adjust himself to his environment. In mental
diseases the prognosis of a psychosis is not looked upon so gravely when the
patient has some realization of his situation, and likewise the recovery
from a mental infirmity is more hopeful when the patient exhibits
considerable insight into his condition. It is a well known fact that in a
malignant psychosis, self-knowledge does not exist, and this in part is
responsible for its malignancy. On the other hand the benignant nature of a
psychoneurosis may be in part attributed to the patient's appreciation of
his affliction.
However, the Socratic maxim has another moral and social value, that is, by
only knowing one's self can one understand his fellowmen. Indeed, Plato
makes Socrates say, in Phaedrus, that it is ridiculous to trouble one's self
about other things when one is still ignorant of one's self. It is well
known to every psychoanalyst that a patient cannot be analyzed by the
physician unless the latter has conquered his own resistances and adjusted
his complexes. The Immortal Poet, Shakespeare, truly says:
"This above all--to shine own self be true And it must follow as the night
the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. "
Hamlet Act I, III.