[Buddha-l] Re: Theories of the self

[Richard Hayes]

On Sunday 05 August 2007 20:47, Katherine Masis wrote:

> Socrates initiates a
> tradition of introspection in that "knowing himself"
> is having a relationship with himself:  the subject
> has a relationship with the internal "object," to use
> psychoanalytic jargon.

Something I learned from one of my philosophy professors many years ago is 
that knowing oneself for Socrates meant knowing where one stands with 
relation to the good. In the often-(mis)quoted Socratic claim that the 
unexamined life is not worth living, the context makes it quite clear that 
Socrates is telling his friends that any day that is not devoted to examining 
whether one's life is lived well---that is, in accordance with the good 
(which for Socrates seems to have been something objective and not 
subjective)---is a day wasted.

The issue of whether Socrates was using "know thyself" in a novel way is not 
really a topic for buddha-l, but whether Socrates was saying something that 
woud make the Buddha smile with approval is something we might explore. I 
have always been struck at how Socratic the Buddha was, and at how Buddhistic 
Socrates was.

-- 
Richard Hayes
Department of Philosophy
University of New Mexico