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Human self-reection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Human self-reection
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Human self-reection is the capacity of humans to

exercise introspection and the willingness to learn
more about their fundamental nature, purpose and
essence. The earliest historical records demonstrate
the great interest which humanity has had in itself.
Human self-reection invariably leads to inquiry
into the human condition and the essence of
humankind as a whole.
Human self-reection is related to the philosophy of
consciousness, the topic of awareness, consciousness
in general and the philosophy of mind.

Contents
1 History
1.1 Prehistoric times
1.2 Ancient Orient
1.3 Classical antiquity
1.4 Middle Ages
1.5 Renaissance
1.6 Modern era
2 Comparison to other species
3 See also
4 References

This penultimate scene of the Admonitions Scroll

shows a palace lady sitting in quiet contemplation,
presumably following the admonitions in the
accompanying lines:[1] "Therefore I say: Be
cautious and circumspect in all you do, and from
this good fortune will arise. Calmly and respectfully
think about your actions, and honor and fame will
await you."

History
Prehistoric times
Prehistoric notions about the status of humanity may be guessed by the etymology of ancient words for
man. Latin homo (PIE *dm
m) means "of the earth, earthling," probably in opposition to "celestial"
beings. Greek (mycenaean *anthropos) means "low-eyed," again probably contrasting with a
divine perspective.

Ancient Orient
From the 3rd millennium Old Kingdom of Egypt, belief in the eternal afterlife of the human Ka is
documented. From the earliest times, man made out a claim of dominance of humanity alongside radical
pessimism because of the frailty and brevity of human life (In the Hebrew Bible, for example, dominion
of man is promised in Genesis 1:28, but the author of Ecclesiastes bewails the vanity of all human
effort).

Classical antiquity
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Protagoras made the famous claim that "Man is the measure of all things; of what is, that it is; of what is
not, that it is not". Socrates advocated for all humans to "know thyself," and gave the (doubtlessly
tongue-in-cheek) denition of humans as "featherless bipeds" (Plato, Politicus). More serious is
Aristotle's description of man as the "communal animal" ( ), i.e., emphasizing societybuilding as a central trait of human nature, and "though bearer animal" ( , animal
rationale), a term that also inspired the species' taxonomy, Homo sapiens.

Middle Ages
The dominant world-view of medieval Europe, as directed by the Catholic Church, was that human
existence is essentially good and created in "original grace," but because of concupiscence, is marred by
sin, and that its aim should be to focus on the beatic vision after death. The 13th century pope Innocent
III wrote about the essential misery of earthly existence in his "On the misery of the human condition"
a view that was disputed by, for example, Gianozzo Manetti in his treatise "On human dignity."

Renaissance
See Renaissance humanism.
A famous quote of Shakespeare's Hamlet (II, ii, 115-117), expressing the contrast of human physical
beauty, intellectual faculty, and ephemeral nature:
What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! how innite in faculties! in form and
moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension, how like a
god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals! And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of
dust?
Ren Descartes famously and succinctly proposed: Cogito ergo sum[2] (French: "Je pense donc je suis";
English: "I think, therefore I am")[3]

Modern era
The Enlightenment was driven by a renewed conviction, that, in the words of Immanuel Kant, "Man is
distinguished above all animals by his self-consciousness, by which he is a 'rational animal'." In the
19th century, Karl Marx dened man as "labouring animal" (animal laborans) in conscious opposition to
this tradition. In the early 20th century, Sigmund Freud dealt a serious blow to positivism by postulating
that human behaviour is to a large part controlled by the unconscious mind.

Comparison to other species

Various attempts have been made to identify a single behavioural characteristic that distinguishes
humans from all other animals. Many anthropologists think that readily observable characteristics (toolmaking and language) are based on less easily observable mental processes that might be unique among
humans: the ability to think symbolically, in the abstract or logically, although several species have
demonstrated some abilities in these areas. Nor is it clear at what point exactly in human evolution these
traits became prevalent. They may not be restricted to the species Homo sapiens, as the extinct species
of the Homo genus (e.g. Homo neanderthalensis, Homo erectus) are believed to also have been adept
tool makers and may also have had linguistic skills.

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In learning environments reection is an important part of the loop to go through in order to maximise
the utility of having experiences. Rather than moving on to the next 'task' we can review the process and
outcome of the task and - with the benet of a little distance (lapsed time) we can reconsider what the
value of experience might be for us and for the context of which it was a part.

See also
Anthropocentrism
Awareness
Consciousness
Psychological mindedness
Philosophy of mind
Wisdom#Confucianism: Reection Imitation Experience

References
1. McCausland, Shane (2003), First Masterpiece of Chinese Painting: The Admonitions Scroll, British Museum
Press, p.78, ISBN978-0-7141-2417-9
2. Descartes, Ren; Principia Philosophiae (1644), Part 1, article 7:"Ac proinde hc cognitio, ego cogito, ergo
sum, est omnium prima & certissima, qu cuilibet ordine philosophanti occurrat."
3. translated, Ren Descartes;; notes, with explanatory; Miller, by Valentine Rodger; Miller, Reese P. (1983).
Principles of philosophy (Repr., with corrections. ed.). Dordrecht: Reidel. ISBN90-277-1451-7.

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Categories: Humans Consciousness Self Philosophy of life
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