Question My interest has been piqued several times when coming across Socrates' famous quote "know thyself." However, I have heard that Socrates was not the original author of this particular statement. According to Wikipedia, it has been attributed to several authors. Can anyone please expand upon this phrase -- its origin (if possible) and what the author or authors meant (also if possible). Doing a Google book search on this phrase brings up a lot of different opinions in a lot of different publications. Literature recommendations would also be appreciated. Thank you!

Accepted:
February 10, 2007

Comments

I believe the oldest expression of this injunction appeared as an inscription at the shrine at Delphi. The inscription itself is no longer extant, but it is referred to in ancient sources as having been one of the things displayed at the shrine. See Plato's Phaedrus 230a.

Many subsequent authors liked to use this expression, and each may have meant something somewhat different by using it. Socrates' own use of it seemed to mean something like, "Be aware of your own ignorance!" We can only speculate about what thoe who inscribed the words at Delphi might have meant, but I would surmise it was something like this: "Know that you are merely a mortal, and do not presume to be in any way the equal of a god!"