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Concept
Self-reflection
Summary
Self-reflection is the ability to witness and evaluate our own cognitive, emotional, and behavioural processes. In psychology, other terms used for this self-observation include 'reflective awareness', and 'reflective consciousness', which originate from the work of William James.
Self-reflection depends upon a range of functions, including introspection and metacognition, which develop from infancy through adolescence, affecting how individuals interact with others, and make decisions.
Self-reflection is related to the philosophy of consciousness, the topic of awareness, and the philosophy of mind.
The concept of self-reflection is ancient. For example, more than 3,000 years ago, "Know thyself" was the first of three Delphic maxims inscribed in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. It is also considered a form of thought that generates new meaning and an opportunity to engage with what seemingly appears incongruous.
Notions about the status of humanity may be revealed by the etymology of ancient words for humans. Latin homo (PIE *dhǵhm̥mō) means "of the earth, earthling", probably in opposition to "celestial" beings. Greek ἂνθρωπος (mycenaean *Anthropos) means "low-eyed", again probably contrasting with a divine perspective.
From the third-millennium Old Kingdom of Egypt, belief in an eternal afterlife of the human ka is documented along with the notion that the actions of a person would be assessed to determine the quality of that existence. A claim of dominance of humanity alongside radical pessimism because of the frailty and brevity of human life is asserted in the Hebrew Bible Genesis 1:28, where dominion of humans is promised, but contrarily, the author of Ecclesiastes, bewails the vanity of all human effort.
Protagoras made the famous claim that humans are "the measure of all things; of what is, that it is; of what is not, that it is not". Socrates advocated the ancient adage for all humans to "Know thyself", and gave the (doubtlessly tongue-in-cheek) definition of humans as, "featherless bipeds" (Plato, Politicus).
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