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Book

How to know your self : the art and science of discovering who you really are

Call Number

  • 158.1 O486 (CEN, OSH)

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Edition

First edition.

Publication Information

New York, NY : Liveright Publishing Corporation, a division of W. W. Norton & Company, [2026]

Physical Description

278 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Summary

"Among the hundreds of books that promise to help us improve our selves, none of them addresses the most fundamental question of all: what exactly is this self they are trying to help? To our modern ears, the meaning of the ancient entreaty, 'know thyself,' seems clear: if we want to live a happy, liberated, and meaningful life, then we'll need to know our authentic selves. But how exactly are we supposed to do this? For the past twenty years, beloved professor J. Eric Oliver has taught a course at the University of Chicago, 'The Intelligible Self,' that is among the most sought after, most oversubscribed electives on campus. In it, he and his students delve deeply into the question of what this 'self' that we are supposed to 'know' even is, and how we might harness our newfound self-knowledge to improve our lives. The course isn't simply an intellectual adventure-although it is that, too. In the spirit of the best classical education, it has also offered generations of students a richer sense of their life's meaning. Your Self captures the dynamic, searching energy of Professor Oliver's course, weaving together the most relevant discoveries in physics, biology, neuroscience, linguistics, behavioral science, and psychology, with the time-tested wisdom of our ancient and modern philosophical traditions and the best ideas from contemporary meditative practices. A rich compendium of the science of the self, Your Self is also a fundamentally practical guide to self-understanding, self-improvement, and even something like self-transcendence"--

Contents

  • Introduction
  • Essence
  • Self
  • Purpose
  • Foundations
  • Evolution
  • Animal
  • Language
  • Morality
  • Ego
  • Psyche
  • Archetypes
  • Transcendence
  • Thinking
  • Intention
  • Consciousness
  • Enlightenment
  • Emotions
  • Happiness
  • Love
  • Loving
  • Recognition
  • Letting go.

Subjects