Kommentar | @Archfarchnad -gb-
No, I didn't (want to) say that self-conscious *can not* mean Selbstbewusst, but I wanted to point out that, of all possible translations, this one is the least common, as it is a philosophical term and, in fact, very misleading as it suggests (to the non-philosophically inclined) a meaning that is exactly opposite to the one that is used in everyday speech. I even called it a false friend, because the 'obvious' translation, self-conscious = selbst-bewusst, will almost always result in wrong usage. Unless you are having a philosophical discourse, the word "selbstbewusst" means "of high self-esteem", which, unfortunately, is not what it means in English. The same goes for the German noun "Selbstbewusstsein", which, in most cases, means "self-esteem" not "the knowledge of one's own existence". Btw, I liked your "Selbstbewusstheit" - I guess, we can not simply create a new word here but if philosophers were to use "Selbstbewusstheit" when they mean to say "Aware of ones existence", we wouldn't need to have this discussion ;-)
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