The significance of Socrates Statement: The Unexamined Life is not Worth Living - Admission/Application Essay Example

The Unexamined Life is not Worth Living The significance of Socrates’ ment BY YOU YOUR SCHOOL INFO HERE HERE “The Unexamined Lifeis not Worth Living”: The Significance of Socrates’ Statement Socrates was a master philosopher that had the unparalleled ability to see beyond what was visible at the surface and dig deeply into the minds and hearts of mind to find hidden or unconscious meaning behind common events or ideas. His strong connection to political ideology was linked to mankind in a way that no other philosopher before him had managed to accomplish successfully, somewhat laying the foundation for modern sociology and psychology principles used today. Socrates’ made the statement that the unexamined life was not worth living while he was on trial for heresy, which was quite common at the time for anyone who went against the general political ideology. During this time period, there was a great deal of social disorder even in levels of government as society began to build the foundation of law. It was a period marked by very strong monopolistic political regimes that demanded strict compliance to regulations and found anyone who publicly expressed ideologies that expanded beyond governmental control to be a serious threat to their control and stability. Socrates was an advocate for deep contemplation about philosophy, religion, politics and the general social condition. He openly advocated a self-reflective lifestyle that considered the self and also about the motivations for why men behaved in the fashion they did. His concepts were designed to get society to become less-interested in simply satisfying the social and political norms, but instead to consider man’s place among the natural landscape and their role as contributors to broader society. Socrates often praised himself, publicly, for being able to see beyond what was visible and expand his contemplations into more psychological elements that drove attitude. Combined with this, Socrates appreciated the benefits of education and attempted to act as both a teacher and a philosopher to anyone in society who was interested in active listening, self-identification, and the moral betterment of mankind in a difficult and disorderly time period. His defense when on trial was to reinforce that any life that does not include thoughts toward education, politics, religion, science, and education was a life that had no real value or purpose. He often compared the activities of those in society who behaved strictly against the social norm or continued to lust after material possessions as their primary goal to be foolish and ignorant. Socrates often let his views be known on this issue and would not fail to identify those that he considered to be absurd and illogical. His public statements that he made against the horrors or foolishness that armies and governmental leadership displayed angered that current leadership regime and they perceived him to be arrogant and trying to use his influence to overthrow the government by gaining public support for his ideas. Therefore, in an effort to prevent him from changing the minds of people in society or promoting education to those who were being controlled by politics, this regime felt it necessary to put him on trial for his perceived crimes against the government. When Socrates made the statement about the unexamined life, he was attempting to reinforce that he was simply trying to create a better life for the foolish by providing them with a forum to reconsider concepts such as wisdom and knowledge. “Socrates insisted on a more rigorous notion of knowledge than that provided by common sense” (Palmer, 2008, p.39). He did not view the government as making decisions that expanded anywhere beyond common sense, but only to serve their own power agenda. His free expression of these beliefs caused him to have to defend his philosophies and public support by suggesting that without deeper meaning and thought, a person’s life was filled with nothing but trivial things that would eventually turn into dust with the passage of time. He tended to look toward the future and saw the many benefits that deeper thought and higher education could bring, while the government considered the exchange of knowledge in many domains to be the single-most hazard to keeping their own views of social order. It seemed as though the government at that time actually preferred men to simply labor each day and continue to give their most basic devotions to the ruling regime instead of considering issues of philosophy, religion or higher education. Through spiritual beliefs, men might have a sort of rallying focus with the idea of some divine creator who might work in their favor to improve their social status or provide them with support. Education might give people the opportunity to learn about chemistry or compare political ideologies, giving them knowledge that might make them actually question the decision-making of the ruling party. Socrates’ statement that the unexamined life is not worth living was an effort to further express that he was merely trying to make society a better world for everyone, however those who accused him found these principles to be dangerous and a warning that they might experience revolt sometime in the future. “People who do examine their lives, who think about where they’ve been, how they got here, and where they’re going, are much happier people” (Palachuk, 2009, p.1). Socrates knew this and he was also aware that many in society were leading lives that put considerable strain on their physical condition, leaving no room to consider thoughts on knowledge or emotional growth. In a way, the government at the time appeared to enjoy the fact that its people were too busy with bettering things like infrastructure and agriculture so that the government had the resources necessary to defend itself against potential invaders and remain a dominant power internationally. They could not have accomplished these things without the support and back-breaking labor of the people and that regime must have believed that Socrates’ lessons would put a new focus into their hearts that suggested concepts such as community service and social harmony. It was through the disorder of that time period that a unified governmental power could sustain power and hierarchy without danger of the people finding a common purpose against the rulers. Through self-reflection, education and goal-setting, Socrates believed people could gain a better control over their emotions and their lifestyles, something the government did not wish to have spread throughout society. Socrates did not believe that following rules that were set by others was a proper method for achieving balance and personal growth. He believed “that there was more to reality than that which we can see and touch” (Palmer, 2008, p.35). The government was not founded on any measurable principles of religion or spirituality and was very focused on the brilliance of man and the importance of political power and status development. By expressing his concept of the importance of an examined life, it would have introduced these principles into the social order and altered concepts about the genuine value or might of the ruling regime. Because of the government’s general view on power distance between the elite and the general laborer or community citizen, they had to make sure that Socrates was either put to death or given the chance to live the rest of his life in prison. Both served a win-win agenda for the government, giving Socrates two very poor options. His defense about the importance of knowledge might as well have been delivered to a stone wall for all of the value it held for his accusers and Socrates chose to die rather than remain locked in a prison without access to knowledge or anyone to hear his concepts and self-reflections. Socrates seemed to have been a man who believed himself to be superior than most in society and to be locked away would have caused him tremendous problems with his own ego. He seemed to genuinely enjoy being the center of attention as a teacher and master philosopher and would allow anyone to express their awe over his ideals. His statement of the unexamined life as a defense for his perceived crimes was not only to show his accusers the importance of understanding and learning, but also to prevent him from continuing to be revered because of his conceptions related to his self-view of brilliance. Thus, with this in mind, Socrates’ statement had significance directly related to the choice of punishment he selected which might have been considered simply escapism, thereby preventing any opportunity for his influence to spread forward into the next generation. First and foremost, however, Socrates appeared to have a genuine concern about society that superseded his own belief in his knowledge-based superiority. His defense was designed to promote this same set of community values on the government to persuade them to reconsider building a better system of democracy and applaud society’s pursuit of education. However, democracy was the last thing that this ruling party wanted to occur so they just made sure he was silenced by whatever means were allowable by their basic laws. Though, today, society might believe this was a foolish decision, it is likely Socrates knew that he would eventually be accused of heresy and he tried diligently to support his values and philosophical ideals right up until his death. References Palmer, Donald. (2008). Does the Center Hold? An Introduction to Western Philosophy, 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, pp.35, 39. Palachuck, Karl W. (2009). “The Unexamined Life is not Worth Living”. Retrieved April 2, 2010 from http://www.relaxfocussucceed.com/articles/2003010002.htm Read More