Trying to find yourself or find who you are is generally a popular dilemma which a lot of people face. We spend years of our lives searching for who we are, and often embark on myriads of self-journeys in an attempt to understand our souls and get a feel for who and what we are. Looking at one of the most emphatic methods of finding a meaning for something comes about through Plato’s Meno, in which Socrates and Meno, a young enthusiastic student visiting Socrates, discuss human virtue and attempt to define it.

During their philosophical dialogue, Meno presents Socrates with various definitions, all of whom Socrates disapproves of, claiming that they do not meet the condition of “oneness.” Socrates attempts to explain why Meno’s definitions are untrue by stating that if he were to ask what is shape, then one cannot give an answer that alludes to something similar to “roundness.” That is because roundness is a quality of shape, but shape is not roundness. Later on, Meno is puzzled as to how Socrates attempts to find the definition of virtue when he doesn’t even know what it is. How can you look for something when you don’t know what you’re looking for? Which brings us to the next idea.

When trying to understand or define the self which is unique to every soul, one must know what to one should be looking for, otherwise how would one know when it is found? The self in this sense is not the general definition of the self in which many philosophers have attempted to define, but is rather taken into question as the individual and unique self that every person possesses.

So how should we know what to look for when we don’t know what the self is? At first, the idea of a self in your mind can be an abstract idea, or one that is not well-defined. Try to explain color off the top of your head. You will surely find yourself at a loss for words, even though the idea of color is clear in your mind. The idea of a self should be clear in your mind, in the sense that you will be able to know when you have found your definition of the self, and be able to distinctly feel the existence of the undefined self within you.

Of course, your definition shouldn’t consist of anything that is a quality of the self, in the same manner that the definition of shape shouldn’t include anything that mentions roundness. To give you a clearer picture, Socrates defines shape later on as that which limits a solid. His definition seems to be sound, and that is the way one should define the self. Honesty, beauty, kindness, and so on are all qualities that may be applied to a large number of selves, yet they do not define what it is. Defining your self as a “kind and hedonist” entity is well and truly invalid. What about all the other qualities that you possess? What does each quality of you have that makes your self “the self” that you are looking for?

Have Your Voice Heard: Become an Odyssey Creator

In truth, one may be able to carve out a definition of the self fairly quickly, but the idea behind this search for truth and definition is that which is based on self-inquiry. The goal isn’t just to find a definition and ask someone to refute it; that would be more fallacious than truthful. The idea is to find out the real definition of one’s self for one’s own development, self-consciousness and awareness.