Who am I and what is “I”?

The famous saying on the pediment of the temple at Delphi, which Socrates liked so much, said: “Know yourself, and you will know the gods and the universe.” However, this aphorism calls not so much for individual self-knowledge as for the knowledge of human nature in a general sense: a person must distinguish what he knows from what he does not know.

In Discourse on Myself, the emperor and Stoic Marcus Aurelius recalls the importance of a realistic view: one must be able to separate what depends on me from what does not depend on me. To make this distinction, it is necessary to understand who I am and what I want. He argues that knowledge of oneself begins with the ability to control oneself and one’s passions.

3. Blessed Augustine (354-430)

“Confession” is one of the first works of Western culture, written in the first person. In it, Blessed Augustine reveals his sins, without embellishing or concealing anything. This is a genuine dialogue with oneself – which at the same time is completely turned to God and glorifies him. The “Confession” of Blessed Augustine creates a new genre: introspection, or introspection… However, for Augustine, his “I” exists only in relation to God. We will see the appearance of a separate “I” and subjectivism only with the advent of the Renaissance and humanism.

“Who am I?” – this most important question is posed in Montaigne’s “Experiments”. Already in the address “To the reader” the philosopher admits: “The content of my book is myself.” Exploring his own “I” (“I portray exactly myself”), Montaigne tries to understand what the “destiny of man” is. Later, Pascal criticized his self-centeredness, objecting: “I” is hateful. And yet: this once again confirms that the “I” safely exists! Thus began the era of individuality and subjectivism.

5. Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

Recognized as the “father of rationalism”, Descartes made no less contribution to subjectivism, turning philosophy towards the individual. In an effort to generalize our knowledge of the world, the philosopher proceeds from the presupposition that nothing exists. However, in order to say “I doubt everything”, there must be an “I”, the subject of doubt. This is his “cogito” – the conscious subjectivity of thought: I doubt, therefore “I think, therefore I am.” Here it is, the “I” personal and concrete – the “I” of Rene Descartes. Subjective awareness of oneself becomes the first reliable knowledge and the basis of any knowledge.

Following Blessed Augustine, he calls his autobiography “Confession”. It describes the first 53 years of the Enlightenment philosopher’s life. Far from religious dogmas, Rousseau strives above all for sincerity, he is preoccupied with examining and considering himself in all his uniqueness (“I dare to believe that I am absolutely unlike anyone who has ever existed”). His book is considered the first autobiography in the full sense of the word. In it, the “I” becomes the main issue of modernity, and subjectivity becomes the lens through which a person looks at the world. From this moment on, the path to psychoanalysis is open …