Self-reflection
Self-reflection is a term that was used primarily in the philosophy of the late 19th and 20th centuries and is also known as a popular psychological expression. He played a role in epistemology and logic as well as in ethics , anthropology and the philosophy of life .
If self- reflection as a reflection relates on the one hand to the general process of thinking and searches for a scientific method of gaining knowledge, on the other hand it can be understood as an orientation with which one is made aware of one's own life situation and thus enables people to focus on their various references, value systems and to reflect on yourself.
Wilhelm Dilthey
At Wilhelm Dilthey , the term takes on a central position. With it all the findings and facts of consciousness are to be described and analyzed and the mental life with the different historical-social processes presented.
It formed the basis of all philosophy - for thinking and knowing, as well as for acting - that Dilthey viewed as the philosophy of life or reality. He contrasts this philosophy with the idealistic epistemology, which restricts people to their cognitive faculties. It is the "last instance" before which self-confidence stands. Understood in this way, Dilthey was able to use the term to understand the context of mental life as a transparent structure. Since life appears in this way as a connection of understandable relationships, it is possible to take a position on it or its parts and to judge them as significant.
Development and importance
Within the Dilthey school , phenomenology and the philosophical hermeneutics linked to Martin Heidegger , self- reflection remains philosophically significant. Hermeneutics primarily addresses the connection between philosophical and historical forms.
Since self- reflection structures the context of life in a reflective way, it is an important element of the autobiography .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Self- reflection , in: Historical Dictionary of Philosophy , Vol. 9, p. 330
- ^ Self- reflection , in: Metzler Philosophy-Lexicon, JB Metzler, Stuttgart, Weimar, 1999, p. 532