The author contrasts the third-person or objective view of the self with the first-person view, and proposes that self-discovery often requires a dialogue between the first-person and third-person viewpoints. She reviews Descartes' articulation of the ocular model and discusses related contributions and comments by Hume, Moore, and Wittgenstein. Knowledge of one's own feelings is also addressed, with reference to the work of S. Cavell, Moran, Altieri, and Sartre. Literary illustrations are presented from two novels, by Austen and Flaubert, and Freud's formulation of the concept of the ego is discussed in the light of these themes.