Atheists: Do you know yourself?

Question

You seem very concerned about other people and their beliefs, but....

Do you know yourself?

All the great philosophers say this is vital toward all understanding (and since your mind creates everything about you... who will disagree ;-)

So, can you honestly say that you know yourself?

Interesting, half of the 'atheists' here say they know themselves the other half say it's not possible to know themselves, or that it is a path...

What should I make of this?

'Atheism' is starting to sound a lot like theism.

Answer 1

I know myself better than most people do.

I don't think it's possible to know oneself completely, because our minds are not static... we are always changing, there is always more to learn about ourselves.

"Know thyself" is, however, my main goal. It facilitates the accomplishment of all other goals.

Edit -

Atheism had absolutely nothing to do with your question in the first place, and I'm at a loss to see how you could've thought it did.

Atheism has no philosophy. It is a lack of belief in a god or gods and that's it, and that's all. You could've addressed this question to any group and gotten similar results.

I don't mind bait question arguments, but if you're going to use them at least construct them so that they make sense.

Answer 2

People can only truely know themselves in hindsight because a minute from now we will be a different person . And there is a severe limit to hindsight because we can remember very little back before the age of 5 years old . We can only guess at what happened to us back then and what effect it has had upon us .
0-5 true childood ,6-12 pre teen, 13-19 teen , 20-22 young adult .
Looking for America , you seem to have deliberately posted a question to troll for an anti atheist display . When you got the answer that some people , regardless of their beliefs , thought they knew themselves pretty well and some others said you couldn't know yourself fully , you decided to try to say that the atheists are confused just like those who believe in a God powered system . Actually your question doesn't have anything to do with religion . It has to do with how individuals feel about themselves and how people view the condition of knowing ones self .
Edit for Marsktina : I think there are three different atheist outlooks . One says I believe that there is NO God because I see no evidence of god ( Antithesim). Another says I do NOT have belief there is a God because I see no proof of god (Atheism ) . And a third outlook is the one I have which states : I believe there is NO powerful , good God because I see evidence to the contrary ( Advanced Atheism) . ( I believe there is the possibility of things that could be believed in , but for now they are just wild speculations . For instance we might be characters in some advanced societies virtual reality game . Or remember the episode on Park Place where Earth turned out to be a reality TV show . Or maybe there is a sadistic or mentally distubed god . Or a defective god ( The Biblical God made Angels that rebelled and then God could not fix nor destroy them , and God made humans that could not follow a simple command .And his planet has become one of war and terror and disease .) Most likely the truth is WAY beyond mankind's current ability to understand .

Answer 3

I know myself as well as any person can. As far as athiests being any more concerned over others beliefs than deists, I will respect your impression of this even though I personally have seen the opposite to be true more frequently. But that is my experience which may not be true for everyone.

Philosophically speaking I tend to agree with Kant, it is less about understanding than intent that matters in life and morality. In my experience the intent of athiests in exspousing their beliefs is to educate those they see as misinformed; and deists that do are trying to share what they see as truth as well. I don't think either is intended to be malicious in any way but are seen as an attack by those on the recieving end.

But I am still learning, and hope to as long as I am alive. This includes internal as well as external study. So upon further reflection... I guess I don't know myself after all.

Answer 4

i don't think that atheism is the best alternative of theism.
there is freethinking w/c sets aside both.
being free of any beliefs is a good way to have a healthier being.i don't want to judge you for that but it is improper to judge "atheists",if they know their selves. we're given the wisdom w/c i think isn't came from god but because of evolution of human.
maybe some atheists reacted so much about this.
let's just respect each other's belief! it is an infinite argument!
just think of the things to make our tomorrow better and brighter.

Answer 5

yes and I'm still growing . if you want absolutes become a physicist ...the impure sciences such as psych. or religion are never in truth 100% and the absolute truth is best superseded by virtue and happiness.
after over half a century as a student of life I don't think my personal understanding has that much room for additional question.

Answer 6

well, i'm getting there. perhaps it's the journey, and not the destination. how are you doing? you seem rather prone to generalising about entire groups of people from a few posts you read on the internet... for a long time i could not have cared less what most people believed, because it seemed as if they were willing to tolerate my beliefs as i did theirs. i no longer fully believe that, but i suspect that many atheists still do.

Answer 7

No, no one knows themselves.

If there is anyone who says he / she knows him/herself, he or she is lying blatantly.

Now, do you know yourself?

--------

No, atheism means each has their own mind to think for themselves and not a book to dictate what should be thought. Therefore it is not surprising all of us has our own views. The only common part is, all ATHEISTS DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE EXISTENCE OF A SUPREME IMAGINARY BEING or SUPREME IMAGINARY BEINGS.

What is so similar with theism? Theism has the idea all should follow the same book. Except each individual cult leader dictates how the book is to be interpreted.

Answer 8

Of course. I question everything, the fact I don't need any of the worlds 10,000 religions does not mean I don't know myself. If you only follow one of over 10,000 identified religions, how does that assist you to know yourself?

Those concerned with philosophy and ethics are not people who doubt who they are, they simply thirst for knowledge about humanity.

Answer 9

No one can really know themselves because "the self" is in a constant state of change both physically and mentally......in the physical we grow, get bigger, smaller and whatnot.....in the mental aspect, opinions, beliefs and thoughts are always changing......One can know themselves today but be someone different tomorrow.

Answer 10

Interest and concern are not the same.

I am not concerned about the beliefs of others. I do find interest in them.

And, yes, I know myself.