We explain what introspection is, its function and how it is done. Also, what is introspection for psychology and for philosophy.
What is introspection?
Introspection (from Latin introspicere, “Look inwards”) is the internal inspection or internal look through which we observe our own thoughts, memories and emotions, or own conduct. It is an act of self-awareness or self-evaluation, in which we turn our attention inwards, momentarily ignoring the outside.
Through introspection we can analyze ourselves, obtain conclusions personal and, more importantly, get to know each other better, in order to be able to take better decisions looking to the future.
For that reason, many of the techniques self-help or personal growth use various methods of introspection, whether in accordance with a methodology formal (developed by specialists from the psychology) or informally, as an invitation, simply, to review us honestly.
Introspection in psychology
In psychology, introspection is a formal method of internal review of thoughts and emotions, in order to reveal the subject himself. At the end of the 19th century, this method was formally developed by Alfred Binet (1857-1911) and Pierre Janet (1859-1947), two French psychologists who reached the same conclusions almost simultaneously and independently.
The two proposed to develop a psychotherapeutic method that consisted of the voluntary revision of one's interiority, thus opposing the positivist current that prevailed at the time, for which such experiences were considered subjective and therefore very little useful.
However, at the beginning of the 20th century, the experiences of Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) and Eugen Bleuer (1857-1939) were greatly influenced by introspection, to the point of consisting almost exclusively of their analytical method: making the subject reveal and observe yourself.
Although this possibility was not without criticism at the time, especially from those who affirmed that no one can observe one's psyche objectively, introspection is still being promoted today as a valuable form of self-knowledge, either for therapeutic purposes or no.
Introspection in philosophy
The philosophy, for its part, understands introspection as a method to apprehend one's own states of consciousness, through meditation and reflection.
The foundations for this concept were developed especially by the French René Descartes (1596-1650). In their Metaphysical meditations He proposed it as a method of a "reflective conscience", guided by a "transparency" regarding the vision that could be achieved of oneself.
This legacy was of utmost importance for another central philosopher in the West, Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), for whom introspection was the way to “possess the self from its representation”. Thus he established it in his philosophy of the subject.
However, with the arrival of positivism, Augusto Comte (1798-1857) considered it as a Cartesian "pretended method" in which one aspired to be both observer and observed. According to the positivists, the human mind is capable of observing all phenomena in the universe, except its own.