The Use of Mirrors in Ancient Philosophy

Why Socrates and other philosophers said we should gaze at our own reflection

My new book, How to Think Like Socrates, includes a remarkable conversation between Socrates and the Athenian noble Alcibiades (based on Plato’s Alcibiades I). In it, Socrates claims that the famous maxim inscribed outside the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, “Know thyself” (Gnothi seauton), can best be understood by imagining that Apollo has instructed the eye to see itself.

They agree this would normally require a mirror, although Socrates notes that we can glimpse our reflection in the eyes of another person. Ironically, the eye is the only part of their body in which we can see our own gaze reflected back. In the excerpt below, Socrates develops this strange observation into a metaphor for the way in which the mind may come to “know itself” by glimpsing a reflection of itself, especially its own errors, in another person with whom we engage in philosophical dialogue.

As I was writing about this, it struck me that there are several interesting references to mirrors in ancient philosophy, sometimes quite literal rather than metaphorical. First of all, according to Diogenes Laertius, Socrates himself reputedly said that young men should frequently look in mirrors for one of two reasons. If they are lucky enough to be handsome, by gazing in the mirror they should remind themselves to make their conduct as beautiful as their appearance. If they are not handsome, they should look in the mirror as a reminder that they may compensate for their appearance by improving their character. (Plutarch reports the same anecdote about Socrates.)

Diogenes Laertius also reports that Plato, who disapproved of excessive wine-drinking, advised those who got drunk to look at themselves in a mirror. He believed that by becoming more aware of their appearance, and thereby developing self-awareness, they would then abandon the habit of drinking to excess, as it made them seem ridiculous.

Diogenes Laertius claimed that Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism, likewise used mirrors to help young men achieve self-awareness. Once, when a youth was asking questioning someone in a rather impertinent way, Zeno led him to a mirror and asked him to look at his reflection for a moment. Then he asked: “Does it seem appropriate for someone who looks as you do to ask such questions?”

Seneca says that his teacher Sextius remarked that some angry men have been snapped out of their rage by bringing them before a mirror and confronting them with the ugliness of their appearance (Letters 36). Seneca himself doubts this happens often because the truly enraged, he thinks, believe that their angry appearance is a good thing.

However, the same technique is described more favorably by Plutarch in On the control of anger. He says he would be grateful to a “clever companion” who held up a mirror to him during his moments of rage.

For to see oneself in a state which nature did not intend, with one’s features all distorted, contributes in no small degree toward discrediting that passion.

In other words, it seems that the idea of literally holding up a mirror to ourselves, and contemplating our own behavior, was a recurring theme in ancient philosophy.

Curiously, I noticed that the same technique had been recommended by Aaron T. Beck, and his colleagues, in his first cognitive therapy manual for Anxiety Disorders and Phobias (2005), where they write:

The therapist can also have mirrors in the office to help patients become aware of their thinking. Floor-length mirrors and small shaving mirrors can be used. A mirror can be a 'social window' where a patient sees his presentation of his social self. Upon looking in the mirror, the patient may identify anxiety-producing thoughts that he previously was unaware of having. (p. 191)

This takes place as part of a discussion about gaining perspective on our automatic thoughts, and viewing them with more detachment. Beck seems to think the mirror can serve a dual purpose, both triggering anxious thoughts about the client’s appearance, which can help clarify their fears, and also helping them to view their thoughts more objectively.

It is not a common technique in cognitive therapy, nevertheless I was surprised to discover that the literal use of mirrors found in ancient philosophy was being replicated, unwittingly, by modern cognitive therapists in their consulting rooms.

Stoic Mirror by Rocio de Torres

Excerpt from How to Think Like Socrates

[Socrates was talking to Alcibiades.] “If you were to follow the advice inscribed at Delphi to Know Thyself,” he said, “you would care for your soul more than your property, and outdo, in that regard, even the kings of Sparta and Persia.” Socrates explained that as our true nature lies in the mind and not the body, to know oneself surely means to know the mind. Alcibiades looked intently at him. “We need to be clear about what we are, and how best to care for ourselves, if we’re to follow that famous maxim,” said Socrates, “but I think we’ve failed to understand its true significance.” “What can you possibly mean?” asked Alcibiades.

Socrates furrowed his brow and peered out from under his bushy eyebrows. “The inscription, it seems to me, advises us to know ourselves in no ordinary way,” he said, “and I can only compare it to an unusual feature of the human eye.” He leaned in a little, raised his head, and looked directly at Alcibiades. “Suppose,” he continued, “that instead of instructing you to know yourself, Apollo instructed your eye to see itself.” “I would imagine he meant,” said Alcibiades, “that the eye must look at something in which it could perceive its own image, such as the reflection in a mirror.” “Indeed,” replied Socrates, “but an image of our face may also appear when we look at the face of another person.” Alcibiades thought for a moment before exclaiming, “Yes, that’s right, we can sometimes glimpse our own reflection in the pupil of their eye!” Socrates was impressed. “So an eye looking at an eye, indeed at its very center,” asked Socrates, “would see its own image?” Alcibiades nodded in agreement. Amused by this idea, he began shifting a little as they spoke, trying to glimpse his own reflection in Socrates’s eyes.

“Indeed, the eye sees itself only when it looks directly into the other’s pupil, the very part capable of vision,” said Socrates. “Likewise, the soul knows itself only when it looks directly into the soul of another, at the part capable of knowledge. When we examine another’s capacity for wisdom, we provide ourselves with the purest mirror available among mortals,” said Socrates. Alcibiades was fascinated. “By this means,” concluded Socrates, “we may best do as the Delphic maxim advises and come to know ourselves.”