Introduction
Love for the truth, the literal meaning of the word philosophy, symbolises humanity's quest
for understanding, making sense of and perhaps finding meaning in what one sees and experiences.
This quest is not new to mankind, although it has taken varied forms. Consequently it
has also had varied effects on man's understanding of himself and the world, thereby
creating diverse cultures and
societies. this is Foucault
Furthermore as Foucault may argue, essentially the knowledge {which closely links with
power) that
creates subjects and subjectivity.
As a natural outcome of his quest to understand existence as a whole, an endeavour which
includes metaphysics and epistemological approaches, man eventually embarks upon a fundamental
self-reflective question: 'Who am I?'. Now the knower himself is under question.
In what follows a brief survey of different conceptions of self as presented by
important thinkers / systems in western and Indian tradition will be made and on the,
