SELF KNOWLEDGE AS EMPATHY: THE CASE OF SOCRATES
SELF KNOWLEDGE AS EMPATHY: THE CASE OF SOCRATES

Summary/Abstract: Even from the beginings mankind desired knowledge. But before the desire to consciously and empathically know the world, his fellow beings, every human being had and will continue to have until the end of time, deep inside, the hidden wish of knowing himself. But for the postmodern man and not only for him philosophy or the activity of philosophers often seems to be something pretious, pretentious, exotic, something with no apparent real, valuable finality in our usual lives. I will try to show in this essay the fact that the one true, authentic understanding of ancient greek philosophy, as passion for wisdom, has a somehow similar root with Christianity, which is a very profound and discreet desire for self knowledge, self fulfillment, freedom of soul and connection with other fellow human beings. All these can be reached through empathy. The two also share the same final earthly purpose, which is that of continuous preparation for death. This vision encapsulates both ethic and ontologic dimensions of philosophical activity. Our conclusion is that philosophy, in its authentic form of love for self knowledge, freedom, as a future and continuous preparation for death, becomes, in the postmodern times we live in, a feature especially for the religious people and for all those willing to better understand and perceive humans and human life as a whole.

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