The Idea of Self-cognition in Stepan Baley’s Concept of Personality

Abstract

Have the heart and look into the heart. These words of the famous Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz became the latest ones in the work of the Ukrainian philosopher, psychologist and
pedagogue Stepan Baley “Ways of self-cognition” (Krakow, 1946). The author from the position of a traveler used them for appeal to those who worked off transitional ideals of educational institutions and face a choice of own life. But Baley understands that a person can not realize the poet’s appeal. A person worries about personal achievement of perfect development and is the bother of all that is the “heart” of the soul, even if it would not possible to look casually inside it and explore its contents. What is the purpose of self-cognition? What is its complexity? What does it mean to know him/herself? The answers to these questions are not new to the reader. However, Baley makes the educators once again return to them. Because educational institutions to a great extent affect the ability of the young person to choose his/herself independently and to be responsible for making choice during his/her life.