Self-Evaluation – Philosophical Perspectives

Abstract

Self-evaluation is not a technical term in philosophy.1 Rather, it is common to associate the expression self-evaluation with contexts of psychologically oriented supervision where individuals or groups are encouraged to evaluate themselves for the purpose of getting clear about their goals, their motivations and possibilities of improving their performances.2 The present volume is an attempt to add philosophical weight to the concept of self-evaluation. The philosophical perspective associates self-evaluation instantly with long-standing key topics of philosophical research such as the metaphysics of the self, the nature of self-reference and the nature of values. Self-evaluation seems to be a notion conceptually close to Socrates’ seminal Know thyself which, down to the present day, has been inducing an unceasing stream of reflection under the key notes of self-consciousness and self-knowledge .