The examined life is a concept that has been promoted for years by individuals from various backgrounds who have constantly searched for answers in everyday life. Each finds a way to justify the life they have lived, whether it be in their own eyes or in the eyes of God. They claim that a life in the pursuit of answers is a life that sets one free from the enslavement of earthly things, and they argue this life is superior. Though this may be true, what would happen if all humans were free or even if all were enslaved? In both cases, the society humans have created would cease to operate. The definitions of freedom and slavery, suggested by the aforementioned people, can be utilized to prove this. In a philosophical sense, slavery can be defined
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People in slavery allow their earthly identities to define them, and can be identified by profession, social class or possessions, such as those Socrates challenges. He questions poets, politicians, craftsmen, and anyone else who claims to be wise in the city, but he does not disregard the knowledge they possess. He recognizes they have sought out knowledge and now apply the information they have found in their occupations and temporal lives. This is the study of the servile arts, which allows a limited area of information to be sought out and utilized to carry out a limited amount of earthly tasks. Those whom Socrates examines, as well as those from whom Oedipus the king searches answers, are primarily students of the servile arts, and without them the answers that Oedipus and Socrates would not come to the surface. If the shepherds or the politicians were not practicing their chosen occupations, they would not possess the information needed to make conclusions; they provide the basis for the studies that Socrates and Oedipus perform, and therefore their studies of the servile arts actually aid the studies of the liberal arts. Similarly, Socrates recognizes that those he challenges have obtained different knowledge than he, …show more content…
The liberal arts are studied in order to set an individual free from an attachment to the earth. Those who study the liberal arts are questioners of the world around them and are individuals who continue to seek answers throughout their entire lives. This freedom is escaping the enslavement of temporal focus and finding a greater sense of personal integrity or changing and reforming the ideas of society. Socrates is prime example of a free life brought on by questioning because he has such a strong sense of his own integrity and so little attachment to the world that he is not afraid to die. The same argument can be made for others who die or state that they are willing to die for their own beliefs, such as Ignatius, Polycarp, and Jesus Christ. These people, like Socrates, have lived lives of deeper examination, have studied the liberal arts, and have found a sense of self as a result. Any worldly ties they could have had are severed because of the assurance many possess that their souls will remain intact after they walk on the earth. This assurance is a result of both the answers they have found and the answers they have not, and the individuals have come to peace with their constant search. Socrates knows that he does not have many answers, but he knows himself and what he believes because he has
People in slavery allow their earthly identities to define them, and can be identified by profession, social class or possessions, such as those Socrates challenges. He questions poets, politicians, craftsmen, and anyone else who claims to be wise in the city, but he does not disregard the knowledge they possess. He recognizes they have sought out knowledge and now apply the information they have found in their occupations and temporal lives. This is the study of the servile arts, which allows a limited area of information to be sought out and utilized to carry out a limited amount of earthly tasks. Those whom Socrates examines, as well as those from whom Oedipus the king searches answers, are primarily students of the servile arts, and without them the answers that Oedipus and Socrates would not come to the surface. If the shepherds or the politicians were not practicing their chosen occupations, they would not possess the information needed to make conclusions; they provide the basis for the studies that Socrates and Oedipus perform, and therefore their studies of the servile arts actually aid the studies of the liberal arts. Similarly, Socrates recognizes that those he challenges have obtained different knowledge than he, …show more content…
The liberal arts are studied in order to set an individual free from an attachment to the earth. Those who study the liberal arts are questioners of the world around them and are individuals who continue to seek answers throughout their entire lives. This freedom is escaping the enslavement of temporal focus and finding a greater sense of personal integrity or changing and reforming the ideas of society. Socrates is prime example of a free life brought on by questioning because he has such a strong sense of his own integrity and so little attachment to the world that he is not afraid to die. The same argument can be made for others who die or state that they are willing to die for their own beliefs, such as Ignatius, Polycarp, and Jesus Christ. These people, like Socrates, have lived lives of deeper examination, have studied the liberal arts, and have found a sense of self as a result. Any worldly ties they could have had are severed because of the assurance many possess that their souls will remain intact after they walk on the earth. This assurance is a result of both the answers they have found and the answers they have not, and the individuals have come to peace with their constant search. Socrates knows that he does not have many answers, but he knows himself and what he believes because he has