197 / Reflection #2

The essence of of "reflection"(in the Socratic, not the optical sense of the word) is not that our thoughts "duplicate" or "replicate" reality. To the contrary. The idea is that when we reflect on something, we have the opportunity to consider other possibilities. When we reflect (as when we regard a "reflection"), we realize immediately that what we are looking at (or thinking about) is not truly "real," but that it is only an image.

Reflection moves us from the realm of the given to the realm of possibility, and it is in the realm of possibility that human freedom is discovered.