Abstract: This article holds that self-consciousness includes two dimensions in dialectical unity—self-intention and self-cognition It proposes three bases for identifying developmental stages according to thecharacteristics of contradictory movements dictated by the two aspects of self-consciousness: 1. Interchange in the degree of dependency and independency; 2. Depth of the development of self-cognition from the perceptual to the rational, and from the concrete to the abstract; 3. The imbalance in the development of self-intention and self-cognition. On this basis, the development of self-consciousness is divided into four stages wiht particular emphasis on the analysis of the characteristics of the juvenile period. Understanding these eharacteristic will help further explore the developmental laws of self-consciousness and improve the education of juveniles.

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