ABSTRACT
Self-knowledge, in the sense of self-awareness, they might say, is the essential prerogative of a mind: only a mind has this unique relation to itself. But the exact meaning of this view is far from obvious, however plausible the language may sound. It appears to identify being a mind with being a self, being conscious with being self-conscious. Psychology, as a social phenomenon, is possible only for minds individually capable of self-consciousness. Selfhood and self-consciousness thus hang very closely together and both, at the same time, imply a social medium, that is effective relationship to other selves. The judgments of explicit self-knowledge require to be distinguished from all the countless judgments which are mere expressions of selfconsciousness. Self-consciousness is the name for all forms of experience the structure of which exhibits the characteristic distinction of self and other. Self-consciousness is the general form of experience for a self in social intercourse with other selves.
