Know Thyself: An Essay on Social Personalism - Hardcover

The author develops his positions with assiduous care. He periodically recapitulates for clarity. Both specialists and simply curious persons will find the work a thought-provoking read. Readers will likely find the approach to persons richer than often seen in contemporary Anglophonic philosophy. The author also treats personalist themes in Trust, Our Second Nature (Lexington, 2009). * Review of Metaphysics * The inscription 'know thyself' on the Greek temple at Delphi was the center of Socrates' philosophy and, to a great extent, the basis of all ancient philosophy. The importance of this dictum has been all but forgotten in the world of modern philosophy, with its emphasis on methods of logical analysis, deconstruction, hermeneutics, and post-modern perspectives. Professor Buford's revival of the philosophy of self-knowledge, as well as its connection to personalism, is a welcome event for those still concerned with philosophy as it has bearing on human life and the human condition. -- Donald Phillip Verene, Emory University The project of American personalism is alive and well in the work of Tom Buford. He advances well beyond the thought of Bowne, Brightman, and Bertocci to offer a subtle understanding of personal and social life. The humane values he advocates engage both the intellect and our emotions. Reading this book is deeply instructive and an unmitigated pleasure. -- John Lachs, Vanderbilt University

Self-Knowledge: An Essay in Social Personalism proposes that social Personalism can best provide for self-knowledge. Thomas O. Buford offers a social personalist understanding of self-knowledge which focuses on the relation of persons to each other and to the Personal, and avoids the impersonalisms that erode the dignity of persons and their moral life which characterize modern life.