practical inquiry regarding meaning » reality » self/selfhood
The practical inquiry into the nature of oneself will involve self-experimentation. It'll involve deliberately choosing to place ourselves in various situations for the purposes of self-discovery. The goal/motto here is "know thyself." Knowing oneself might involve observing one's own thoughts and feelings, but it will likely more often involve discovering our own limits—what we can and cannot handle—and what roles we're more or less suited to play in the world (with others). What (small) contribution can I make? What (small) part can I play? Often times our modern sensibilities like to tell ourselves we can do anything—that we're utterly free to choose what role we play and who we become—but this is a little naive. Given our personal histories (which extend back beyond our birth even), we each have a trajectory with a certain range. True, we can increase the range, but this will come by developing what strengths we already have such that we then have a stronger foundation upon which to branch out into further explorations. Placing ourselves in many different contexts will help us see which contexts bring out our strengths and which don't.
The goal is to ultimately uncover deeper aspects of oneself. Making our own contributions to and playing our own roles in a wider world will allow us to become aware of our basic identity with that wider world. We'll become bigger than ourselves.
