the self is an ideal category - a necessary construction
it is the ground of identity
on which is based - conceptions - which are not necessary
- purely contingent
the concept of self - the pure transcendental concept -
is thus - not of any self - per se (but of all selves) -
in this sense we can regard the self as an objective reality -
certainly psychology takes this view
my conceptions of myself - can only be understood -
in terms of my experience and history - I can make this
known to others - but it is not their experience
and these contingent conceptions - will not deliver
definitive knowledge - of the self - only of the experience
of the self
the self - here mentioned is - on this view without content -
and in that sense not
known
or rather we know 'that' - but not 'what'
and I take it from this that the concept of the self is -
the ground of possibility - possible experience - possible
knowledge
and so it seems the way to regard oneself finally is not
as the end of actuality - but as the ground of possibility -
beyond this the self is a pure emptiness
p.s.
the self a necessary construction?
I think it's like this -
we can speak of - as it were begin with - non-reflective
consciousness - simply 'looking out'
on reflection - the self is determined -
found in consciousness
and with this - the understanding of its necessity -
it was always there - it could not be otherwise
so there is no actual construction - more like an initial
revelation
we speak of - perhaps think of the self as an object
really it is consciousness aware of itself - the fact of itself
in the world and inside the world
