Self-awareness early philosophical discussion of self-awareness is that of John Locke. Locke was apparently influenced by René Descartes' statement normally translated 'I think, therefore I am' ("Cogito ergo sum"). In chapter XXVII "On Identity and Diversity" of Locke's "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding" (1689) he conceptualized consciousness as the repeated self-identification of oneself through which moral responsibility could be attributed to the subject—and therefore punishment and guiltiness justified, as critics such as Nietzsche would point out, affirming "...the psychology of conscience is not 'the voice of God in man'; it is the instinct of cruelty ... expressed, for the first time,
Mr. Cogito book, invites a range of various interpretations, including cultural and historical ones. True to the Cartesian overtones of his name, Mr. Cogito often reflects on life and the world, providing the reader with the thoughtful statements. Coming from an Everyman, they attain a range of universal meanings. The first poem in the collection is entitled "Pan Cogito obserwuje w lustrze swoją twarz" ("Mr Cogito Looks At His Face In A Mirror"). A poem about aging, it poses questions about the limits of individual freedom. The second, "O dwu nogach Pana Cogito" ("On Mr. Cogito's Two Legs") concerns the duality of