Socrates' credo “An unexamined life is not worth living” sparks an intense and prolific discussion, just as Socrates intended. In the discussion of this credo, the thinker does just what the credo addresses: without studying, analyzing, or critically reflecting upon one's life, it is not worth living. Life is not about making all the right decisions in a progression to the idealized or perfect life. It is rather a procession to honor the experiences one is a part of or engages in, one's own mentality as well as in the shared reality. A life only becomes meaningful if we question why we, ourselves, do the things we do and think the things we think.1 In doing so, we rupture tears in the age-old classicism of thought and experience. We poke
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This form of thinking let the thinker free himself of social confines and binds in order to seek “the right answer.” However, Socrates gave up his own life rather than live the unexamined life; he refused to live under conditions of pervasive ignorance. The values that individuals put upon their lives and the belief systems they hold are important when factoring in their examined lives. Without the ability to reflect upon and question one's own life, one is left in a mundane and uncultivated reality, imprisoned in the shackles of the physical as well as the …show more content…
To live a life of rich and vast knowledge for the infinite is to flourish in awe and wonderment. Socrates inevitably brings this issue directly home to each of us. How extensively have we examined the beliefs that have come to define us? Is our personality a learned trait or genetic? Has the mass media, consumerism, suburban homogeneity socialized one into the shadows of deception and fraud? Are truth and morality relative? What shapes and creates our beliefs? These are the questions that Socrates dwelled on relentlessly—the questions that finally landed him in prison, facing execution. His questions normalized and accepted religious beliefs, and whether or not they are rational. Socrates encouraged his pupils and students to look beyond the shadows of convention and socialization, and to expose their realitys to rational inquiry aimed at finding the truth. By reflection of one's self, and by analysis of one's actions, a person can discover the infinite potential and energy in life and
This form of thinking let the thinker free himself of social confines and binds in order to seek “the right answer.” However, Socrates gave up his own life rather than live the unexamined life; he refused to live under conditions of pervasive ignorance. The values that individuals put upon their lives and the belief systems they hold are important when factoring in their examined lives. Without the ability to reflect upon and question one's own life, one is left in a mundane and uncultivated reality, imprisoned in the shackles of the physical as well as the …show more content…
To live a life of rich and vast knowledge for the infinite is to flourish in awe and wonderment. Socrates inevitably brings this issue directly home to each of us. How extensively have we examined the beliefs that have come to define us? Is our personality a learned trait or genetic? Has the mass media, consumerism, suburban homogeneity socialized one into the shadows of deception and fraud? Are truth and morality relative? What shapes and creates our beliefs? These are the questions that Socrates dwelled on relentlessly—the questions that finally landed him in prison, facing execution. His questions normalized and accepted religious beliefs, and whether or not they are rational. Socrates encouraged his pupils and students to look beyond the shadows of convention and socialization, and to expose their realitys to rational inquiry aimed at finding the truth. By reflection of one's self, and by analysis of one's actions, a person can discover the infinite potential and energy in life and