Socrates Words: The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living - Essay Example

"The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living" More often than not, I have been fascinated by the bold ments made by the philosopher Socrates "The unexamined life is not worth living”. In this instance, Socrates did not mince his words on this issue but clearly says that such kind of life is not worth living. Why does Socrates come up with such strong and unequivocal statement? Do we have anything that someone would not call a theory? What exactly does Socrates mean by his words" The unexamined life is not worthy of a human being"? Did Socrates intend to justify involuntary euthanasia and mistreatments of animal and plant life? For a philosopher, every life form should have a way of life suitable for it, that is, the life that is in harmony with its nature. But according to human nature, ‘the good’ involves living that kind of life subject to the truly critical use of reason, namely to live such a life implying anything less that it is quite unworthy of such person’s nature. Indeed he stands to find it intolerable and further, that way of life is quite unworthy of such person’s nature, and he/she should not endure the unexamined life, which is in Kant’s words ‘an eternal childhood’ which in essence is a condition of lack of freedom. This paper discuses Socrates’ words "The unexamined life is not worth living". This would help ascertain if such words are any meaningful in human life. "The unexamined life is not worth living." Certainly those are Socrates’ words while at his trial for heresy. Socrates was on trial and said those words intentionally to encourage his students to always think for themselves and challenge the accepted belief of the time. He was condemned to death, although he had the choice of suggesting an alternative punishment. Rationally, it was expected that Socrates could have opted for exile or life in prison, which would have helped him avoid death. But according to Socrates, these promising alternatives would instead rob him of that only thing that would make him useful in examining the beautiful world around him and discussing how well to make it a better place to live. Without his examined life Socrates believed then that there was no point in living. He, therefore, suggested that the Jury should consider rewarding him for his service to the society. This implied that the Athens had no other alternative but be forced to vote for his death punishment. Socrates believed that the purpose of human life would always be personal and spiritual growth. People are not able to grow towards their greater understanding of their true nature unless they spend some time reflecting and examining their lives (Palmer 34). Just like philosopher, Santayana, observed, “He who fails to remember the past is condemned to repeat it.” (Karl 11). Lucky enough, people do not have to make a choice between death and examined life. The saddest thing is that most people always avoid living an examined life not because they do not have the time, but because they actively like to avoid examining their own life. Socrates’ words are significantly relevant in every bit of human life, and I unreservedly agree to them. It implies that a person who is not open for questioning by others concerning his action and thoughts certainly lives in denial of such motivations prompting his actions and thoughts. It follows that such an individual wastes his or her life. That kind of life is but a superficial act that reveals nothing new and nothing unique and such a life is not "real" Socrates’ careful choice of words provides much color to his quote. The word ‘examined’ might be interpreted to mean to analyze, study, to check condition or health of someone or something, or to inquire. One would imagine that Socrates insists that asking other persons what his quote implies defiles the precise nature. It is, therefore, best for one to have his or her meaning from it. Socrates suggests that ‘unexamined life’ refers to that life whose purpose has at no time been questioned; a life that has never been appreciated to the level beyond face value: a life that has not been inspected or inquired into and a life that has not been analyzed (Palmer 67). In suggesting this, he gives praise such as “asm I living my life according to rules set for me by others or according to my own rules? Is there more to reality than that which one can see?” The quote also suggests that Socrates’ beliefs that humans who do not examine in every sense their lives, reality, motivations and thoughts are wasting the experience and thus such lives are not worth living. This clearly shows that Socrates thinks that an examined life is not worth living. Examining own individual life reveals the pattern of behavior A deeper contemplation yields the understanding of subconscious programming, which is such a powerful mental software that often it runs our life. Unless an individual becomes informed of these patterns, much of such an individual’s life becomes a repetition. Acting in the shoes of a psychotherapist, I have had many tragic examples of effects of unexplained life. I recall Naomi, a sensitive and attractive woman in her late fifties, who realized that doomed-from-the beginning repetitive relationships had taken up most of her life, which made it particularly unlikely that she would yet realize her dream of children and a husband of her own. I remember James, a caring and hardworking young man who neglected his family and wife emotionally for a remarkably lengthy period of time. By the time James came to consult, he was already depressed, divorced and living in isolation in an apartment. If Naomi and James had spent some time examining and reflecting upon their lives as they were living, I am certain that they would have made changes, and this could have given them a different yet focused experienced of life in the course of their lifetime. However, the good news is always that it is never too late to begin examining our life more thoroughly and to reap rewards. Naomi did not have the child she dreamed of, but after stopping recreating her past, she eventually got married to a loving man who aided her in healing from the childhood wound of the father that deserted her. For James, it was quite too late to have a second chance with the wife, but fortunatly enough, he could build a strong relationship with his siblings. As humans, we are all characterized by blind spots. When I spend some time examining a chronic problem in my life, often I find myself with the unsettling feeling that for sure I should be missing something although I cannot quite see what exactly it is. We all, at some point in life, examine ourselves, but it is never easy for any of us to see our shadow. That explains why Socrates was right with his method of self-examination, which included the assessment element that later was referred to as ‘Socratic dialogue’ (Karl 12). It is through dialoguing with a close friend, a spiritual adviser, a skilled psychotherapist, or a spouse that our blind spots are revealed. We cannot see by ourselves. It is unfortunate that our societies are always discouraging self-awareness with the weekly cycle of consuming and working that makes us too busy to have a chance to slow down to have a self-reflection. The game of consumer capitalism plan often prefers a vaguely dissatisfied and unaware populace that tries filling the emptiness inside with the shiny products. In trying to exploit the true sense of Socrates words and with an intention to ascertain if I, alongside other people, am living examined life or not, I got involved in a discussion group. From the discussion, I was able to understand some crucial elements of human life. It became apparent to me that the strongest affirmation argument in life concerns autonomy. It became clear to me that for an individual who does not take some time reflecting upon his or her life and values but instead merely goes through the motions, their life is not even really his or hers. The individual is but a mere animal. More often than not, experiences do happen in our lives for better or for worse, and on many occasions, they end up triggering the quasi-reflective response. Certainly, an individual can not be a true agent until he or she stops and questions his or her own drives and actions, which reshape his or her character into a mould of his own devising, thereby crafting a sort of life that makes sense of him or her as she/he lives. The story of a life is always credited to the author since examined life does not have an author but rather a mere force of nature, which is no more than a hurricane. Therefore, living unexamined life, in the true spirit of Socrates words, one has to claim it as his/her own for him or her to author the rest of the story. That explains why, as many seem to agree, leading an examined life is not worth living. But in this sense, do we have such a thing like wholly examined life? It is true that every individual questions himself, to a greater or lesser degree. The real question, therefore, is how great should the degree of questioning be? It sounds absurd for one to try maintaining a state of rational self-examination almost at every local moment. It is rather a global exercise of rationality that we ought to endorse, in which case, the agent considers the whole picture of their life wholesomely, which include numerous local moments at which critical reflections become wholly inappropriate as Williams put it “one thought too many”. In conclusion, many of us agree that we do not lead a wholly examined life and this implies in the words of Socrates that we do not all deserve living our lives but instead we should give way to those destined to live examined lives letting them prevail. Works Cited Karl, W. The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living. Web. 20th July, 2012. Palmer, D. Does the Center Hold? An Introduction to Western Philosophy.5th Ed., McGraw Hill, Boston, 2011. Print Read More