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OWIJOPPA VOL.1, No.1 2017 Oracle of Wisdom Journal of Philosophy and Public Affairs 219 OWIJOPPA VOL.1, No.1 2017 218 Oracle of Wisdom Journal of Philosophy and Public Affairs MAN KNOW THYSELF: A PANACEA FOR ATTITUDINAL CHANGE IN THE SOCIETY Chidi K. Ogonnaya Abstract As a moral philosopher, Socrates left no one in doubt on his mission. Originally, philosophy was concentrated upon the physical nature outside man until Socrates with his strength of will and strong moral earnestness, steered philosophy into the arena of morality. He comprehended the practical problems of life in one question – how to live rightly. Ever since then, these noble aspirations of Socrates to change the society for the better have not yielded positive results. This paper identifies among other things that lack of self-knowledge among the people is partly responsible for the immoral attitude being experienced in the society today. It has become imperative that the society needs this interior enlightenment and condition which enables man to seek the good always and act reasonably well. With the method of analysis, the paper argues that for one to make a success of one’s own life, of one’s household and of one’s society, there should be a wholesome examination of our individual lives for a meaningful existence. Many a time, the society has suffered greatly as a result of the absence of this self-knowledge among its members. This paper submits that the acquisition of self-knowledge should be seen as a ‘virtue’ which must be acquired and cherished by the society at all times. The paper therefore concludes that man has a solemn duty to seek knowledge in order to escape ignorance and behave rationally. Hence, the need for attitudinal change in the society. Keywords: Change, Socratic Doctrine, Knowledge, Ignorance, Virtue Introduction Socrates was widely known throughout the history of Western Philosophy as a great teacher. Not a few philosophers have argued that the development of an authentic self is the central lifelong project for each man. Socrates, the father of moral philosophy, happens to be the first to call man‟s attention to himself. The belief that goodness is a matter of knowledge is attributed to the historical Socrates. He wished to reduce all excellence to some kind of knowledge and was profoundly convinced that no man does wrong on purpose because no man is willingly ignorant. This explains, to some extent the reason why he was far more occupied in teaching men to think for themselves. Though, he did not put his doctrines into writing, he taught orally. However, three of his young contemporaries, Aristophanes, Xenophon and Plato who preserved his noble doctrines were of the view that: “Socrates insisted on the belief on moral values, on an austere conduct of life, and on the unity of wisdom, knowledge and virtue” (Dagobert, 1959). There is no gain saying that Socrates had a moral and practical purpose. He spent his life time inquiring into human life and its qualities, all that we should now call the spiritual and mental side of life in the wider meaning of these terms. The great Socrates is, therefore, the philosopher who has a taste for every sort of knowledge and throws himself into acquiring it with an insatiable curiousity. Socrates, strictly speaking, conceived philosophy fundamentally as a summon to an authentic life just like Soren Kierkegaard of the contemporary period. Believing that virtue is knowledge, it was incumbent upon him to spread abroad knowledge. He would agree that he could elicit knowledge, or bring it to birth through the practice of disciplined conversation. He felt that he was subject to a divine or supernatural experience. In the Apology, Socrates puts it thus: It began in my early childhood - a sort of voice which comes to we; and when it comes, it always dissuades me from what I am proposing to do, and never urges me on, It is this that debars me from entering public life (Apology, 30a-31c). OWIJOPPA VOL.1, No.1 2017 Oracle of Wisdom Journal of Philosophy and Public Affairs 219 It was in this light that he sees philosophizing as a divine mission and a vocation entrusted to him by God about which there could be no compromise. Little wonder, Cicero, for example, says of Socrates: “He called down philosophy from heaven. Settled it in cities, introduced it into houses and made it necessary for inquires to be made on life and morals, good and evil” (Zeller, 1950). The History of the Socratic Doctrine: Man know Thyself. Here, this paper shall trace the origin of the doctrine „Man Know Thyself‟. The ancient philosophy in the west as in the East did not begin with the study of man. As such it was concentrated on the world that surrounds man, the cosmos. It was not long the skepticism of the sophists turned the attention of philosophy to man, to his mental and moral nature and to the practical problems of life. The climax of this era came with Socrates who made man exclusively the central problem of philosophic thought, with the main interest in the correct conduct of life. Suffice it to say that the early cosmologists discovered nature while the sophist and Socrates discovered man. The Greek Culture The name „Greek‟ meant a lot in the history of western Civilization. Their worthy and intellectual contributions in all the facets of human life were second to none. Basically, their way of life is that of critical thinking and reflection upon fundamental issues of life. Popkin (1969: p.6) attested to this thus: “It was characteristics of Greek philosophy to be highly speculative.” This trait is revealed most strikingly in metaphysics, where many Greek philosophers attempted to discover the true nature of the world by the use of reason alone. Thales of Miletus who opened up this new area of thought is the founder of the Ionic physical philosophy, and therefore the founder of Greek philosophy. Hegel, writing on the importance of Greek culture also has this to say: “The name of Greece strikes to the hearts of men of education in Europe” (Copleston, 1962). In this regard, therefore, Hegel is of the view that no one would attempt to deny that the Greeks left an imperishable legacy of literature and art to our European world. The same is true of philosophic speculation. Stumpf (1975: p.4) explains it thus: “The broad-mindedness and inquisitiveness of her people created a congenial atmosphere for the intellectual activity that was to become philosophy.” We can, therefore, see that it was the insatiable curiosity and wonder of the Greeks that led to the development of man‟s intellectual life. The Greeks won for man, freedom and independence of philosophic thought; and proclaimed the autonomy of reason. Stumpf (1975: p.5) writes again thus: Greek philosophy was an intellectual activity, for it was not a matter only of seeing or believing but of thinking and philosophy meant thinking about basic questions in a mood of genuine and free inquiry. Philosophy, as an inquiry, should be seen in no other light than as a focus through which we can see our own roles and actions, and determine if they have any real significance. Wisdom then, means a definite practical attitude to life. The Religious Society No doubt, the Greeks were very religious sect of people. Unlike every other sect, they have their centre of worship at the temple of Delphi with the oracle of Apollo as their common governing religious body. Though regional amphictyonics also formed centres of common worship at Delphi, Argos, Delos, Triopium and elsewhere; the Greek worship throughout the archaic and classical periods was therefore essentially communal. The oracle of Apollo at Delphi had neither a recognized orthodoxy to enforce, nor a disciplined and obedient clergy to support it in any state that might prove recalcitrant. Instead, the oracle confined itself to giving advice, „Know Thyself‟ it said. No wonder the temple of Delphi had a very remarkable inscription or manifesto written in bold as, “MAN KNOW THYSELF.” This is to say that the maxim, „Know Thyself‟ first came to limelight from the oracle of Apollo at Delphi. Everyone of the Greek were very conversant with the inscription at the temple of Delphi and it is believed that it helped to explain the significance of religion in the entire lives and outlook of the Greeks. OWIJOPPA VOL.1, No.1 2017 Oracle of Wisdom Journal of Philosophy and Public Affairs 220 The religion of the Ancient Greeks can, therefore, be clearly seen for what it was. It was creedless, developing without any authoritative writing like the Bible or the Koran, and without any inflexible tradition to hamper or to guide it. The Greek religion was for the most part completely free from other worldliness. It was a religion of everyday life, which sought for temporal blessings such as good crops, deliverance from enemies, health or peace within the community. Thus far, we have seen, that the doctrine „Man know Thyself‟ originated from God but was associated mainly with Socrates because of his perceived role of a gadfly, which according to him, was divine and his continued insistence on self- knowledge, „know thyself‟ he used to say. To This end, Socrates had to put it into practice through his exemplary life and worthy principles. Because of this noble feat, he was, therefore, regarded as very important historically precisely for saving man from self-destruction with his insistence on frequent reflection and self-questioning. „Man know Thyself‟ was to become the summary or key of what Socrates had in mind to ensure the good life for man. To this, he saw his role as that of a gadfly that stings human beings to action.
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