One of the most famous aphorisms in history, “know yourself”, was in the entrance portico of the temple of the god Apollo, in the city of Delphi in Greece, in the 4th century BC. Ç.
Remember that an aphorism is a thought expressed briefly.
This phrase has been attributed to several Greek figures and has no author at all. It is possible that it has a popular Greek saying as its origin.
Over time, this sentence was appropriated by many authors, which led to some variations. An example of this appropriation is its translation into Latin: we are you ipsum and also, temet us.
Anyway, the phrase was understood as an oracle (message from the god) of Apollo for all people.
Thus, the great task of humanity, according to the god Apollo, would be to seek knowledge of itself and, from there, to know the truth about the world.
The god Apollo was known to be the god of beauty, perfection and reason. For this reason, he was one of the most revered gods in ancient Greece.
Reason, related to Apollo, was essential to the development of philosophy. The reflexive character of philosophy and the search for knowledge and truth find a reference in Apollo.
Know yourself and Socrates
The philosopher Socrates (c. 469-399 a. C.) is the one who made this connection between god and nascent philosophy more evident.
It was Querofonte, his friend, who, on a visit to the oracle at Delphi, asked the pythoness (priestess who receives the message of the gods and transmits to mortals) if there was anyone wiser in the world than Socrates. The oracle's answer was no, there was no one wiser than Socrates.
Upon receiving this message from Cherophon when he returned to Athens, Socrates spent his life trying to challenge the oracle.
The philosopher did not understand how he could be understood as the wisest. He thought he had no knowledge.
The philosopher considered himself just an ordinary person with the difficult purpose of seeking true knowledge.
This challenge would have led Socrates to utter the famous phrase:
I only know that I know nothing.
Intrigued by the message of the oracle, the philosopher sought out all the sages of Athens so that they could show him what knowledge was.
Socrates asked them questions about moral issues such as virtue, courage, and justice, hoping that these people, recognized for their wisdom, could help him in his quest for truth.
However, he was frustrated to realize that these Greek authorities had a partial view of reality, being able only to give examples of someone virtuous, courageous or just.
From these meetings, Socrates realized that these sages were just people with a wrong interpretation of knowledge, full of prejudices and false certainties.
The philosopher understood that the message of the oracle concerned the fact that he possessed a self-knowledge and understood his own ignorance, making him wiser than others.
See too: I only know that I know nothing: the enigmatic phrase of Socrates.
Socrates gives rise to the anthropological period of Greek philosophy. That is, from the idea that self-knowledge, self-knowledge, is the basis for all other knowledge about the world.
This sentence makes a reference to the oracle and its inscription “Know thyself”. Self-knowledge and awareness of one's ignorance are the foundations of the Socratic method.
Only after abandoning their prejudices is the subject able to seek true knowledge.
Know yourself and the philosophy
Philosophy is born from reflection, that is, from looking inside. It is necessary to reflect on what it means, in fact, to know something. From there, build foundations for all types of knowledge.
The length of the sentence attributed to Socrates is known as:
Know yourself and you will know the universe and the gods.
Therefore, the engine of philosophy is the “know thyself” of knowledge itself, it is thought turned to itself. Search in the understanding, the bases that support the knowledge.
Because of this, all areas of knowledge are also areas of philosophy and its object of study.
Know yourself, Myth of the Cave and Matrix
In the science fiction classic, matrix (1999), the script by sisters Lilly and Lana Wachowski is based on Plato's Myth of the Cave.
In both stories, groups of human beings find themselves imprisoned without realizing it, because they live in a simulacrum of reality.
In Plato, the simulation of reality is given by the shadows projected at the bottom of the cave and taken as the whole of reality.
Already in the movie, matrix, the electromagnetic impulses are produced by machines and connected to the prisoners' brains. This leads them to experience a sense of reality produced and controlled by computers.
In the Myth of the Cave, one of the prisoners questions his condition and finds ways to break free. Something similar happens with Neo, protagonist of the film. His role as a hacker draws the attention of a resistance group that gives him the right to choose between the hostility of the real and the comfort of falsehood.
The similarities continue and the film's directors make this relationship explicit in one of the scenes. Neo will consult an oracle. In this place, in a modern version of the temple of Apollo, above the door the message is read temet us ("know yourself" in Latin), in a clear reference to the similarities between Neo and Socrates.
Like the ancient Greeks, Neo finds the oracle and receives an enigmatic message about destiny and the possibility, or not, of controlling his own life.
The central theme of both stories concerns the search for self-knowledge. From there, the individual frees himself from the oppression and control of what is false to understand what is, in fact, real.
self-awareness
The question "who am I?" or "who are we?" it is one of the primordial, metaphysical questions that gave a starting point for philosophy and the entire production of knowledge. The "us and the universe" is the goal of knowledge that drives the production of science in the world every day.
Chemistry, physics, medicine, psychology, sociology, history and all other sciences, each in its own way, have as a common point the proposal inscribed in the temple of Apollo.
Although the definitive answer to this question has not been reached, his search and the need to know himself, build and modify the way of thinking and understanding reality.
In other words, the quest for knowledge, from the ancient Greeks to space probes or the decoding of the human genome, answers the question of "know thyself".
Interested? See too:
- What is philosophy for?
- What is a philosophical attitude?
Bibliographic references
"The Thinkers" Collection - Socrates
Invitation to Philosophy - Marilena Chauí