The Concept of Introspection

Introspection is a way of achieving self-knowledge during which a person observes their internal reaction to events in the external world. Introspection is motivated by a fundamental human need to examine the self carefully, to explain to themselves why they believe what they believe and whether there is a possibility that their belief is wrong.

The founder of introspection as a method of inquiry is the British educator and philosopher John Locke, who, relying on the ideas of Rene Descartes, pointed out that there are only two direct sources of all knowledge: the objects of the external world and the human mind. In this regard, all significant psychological facts of consciousness are open to study only by the subject of knowledge itself. It may well be that “blue” for one person is not at all the same as “blue” for another.

The method of introspection helps to keep track of the stages of thinking, breaking down feelings into elements and providing a complete picture of the relationship between thoughts and actions. Introspection teaches us to think more abstractly and broadly, for example, to perceive a “big red apple” as a sensation of red, replaced by an impression of a round one and a trace of a taste sensation. But do not go too deep into introspection – excessive focus on tracking your own impressions can dull the perception of reality.