Întoarcerea către sine sau recucerirea noastră lăuntrică. Itinerariile școlilor filosofice și exercițiile lor specifice
The Return to Oneself or the Reclamation of Our Inner Self. The Journeys of Philosophical Schools and Their Specific Exercises

Summary/Abstract: This paper studies the philosophical exercise of turning towards oneself (εἰς ἑαυτόν), as a practice of concentration and acquiring self-awareness. From the very beginning, it can be noted that there is an uninterrupted chain of the Philosophical Tradition, along which this exercise is practiced. Thus, we have shown that, starting from Pythagoras (6th century BC) and until the closure of the “Platonic Academy” in Athens (6th century AD), in the texts of the philosopher Simplicius, there is a continuity of this exercise of inner gathering. During the study, we focused on the schools of philosophy that had a major impact on the history of mankind: Platonic, Epicurean, Stoic and Neoplatonic. In theological terms, the study was based on the difference between the Pharisee’s gesture of turning towards himself in the Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee and that of the prodigal son in the Parable of the Prodigal Son; thus, if the first turns towards himself, he nevertheless remains and prays towards himself (πρὸς ἑαυτὸν προσηύχετο – Lk. 18, 11), whereas the second, after turning towards himself, turns towards the Father, a gesture that resurrected him (ἀναστάς – Lk. 15, 18)

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