Problem of Self-Knowledge

3 ch (3C) (O) (W) · Undergraduate

Explore ancient, modern, and contemporary authors that help us reflect on the problem of self-knowledge. Socrates once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” If self-knowledge is a necessary part of that examination, should it be the most straightforward part? Is knowledge of ourself easier to achieve than knowledge in scientific, ethical, or policy domains just because we are more familiar with ourself ? We examine self-knowledge as a problem bound up in larger questions of human nature, freedom, goodness, the role of society in self-understanding, and knowledge itself. We explore historical and contemporary sources (philosophical, literary, and film) ranging from Plato and Sophocles to Descartes, Dostoevsky, Woody Allen, and Asghar Farhadi.