The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living Essay

In order to live a full and satisfying life one mustn't be afraid to do some critical thinking about one's life, i.e. where it started, where it is, and where it's headed.

The Apology by Plato delves deep into the concept of wisdom and self-examination. Socrates declares that “the unexamined life is not worth living”. Putting this phrase into context, Socrates has been falsely accused by Meletus of corrupting the youth of Athens and believing in artificial gods that were not the same as the gods of Athens. Meletus represents the hypocrisy of the world, he, who is not guiltless in the face of accusation, has falsely accused Socrates of social wrongdoing. These accusations stem from Meletus’ steadfast insecurity of himself. Socrates exposes Meletus’ insecurity that he may be morally corrupt himself. These accusations fulfill that insecurity, that in falsely accusing Socrates of moral corruption, he is proving

‘How to live?’ I’m sure many of us are trying to figure it out. We learn about the meaning of life every second. Many people get lost and most of them think that they know what their hearts beat for and they are successful. Yet, they are just chasing fortune and fame, so as the author, when he was graduated from college. He buried himself

“Is the unexamined life worth living?” (The Apology, 2016, para. 48). This question has been asked by people since the time of Socrates. Many people delve into the quandary of this question seeking a greater understanding of their purpose. Often times, people live on the surface and never truly strive for self-examination, whereas others believe it is crucial to deeply examine one’s true self. Every life is worth living. However, the difference between simply existing in an unexamined life versus living life as God intended is momentous. An examined life is lived for the benefit of others more than oneself. Socrates’ question has revealed several different truths, including the value of self-examination, the importance

Socrates put one’s quest for wisdom and the instruction of others above everything else in life. A simple man both in the way he talked and the wealth he owned, he believed that simplicity in whatever one did was the best way of acquiring knowledge and passing it unto others. He is famous for saying that “the unexplained life is not worth living.” He endeavored therefore to break down the arguments of those who talked with a flowery language and boasted of being experts in given subjects (Rhees 30). His aim was to show that the person making a claim on wisdom and knowledge was in fact a confused one whose clarity about a given subject was far from what they claimed. Socrates, in all his simplicity never advanced any theories of his own

He finally says that “the unexamined life is not worth living” (Plato, 20). What exactly does this statement mean? It means if a person is living a life without truly striving for wisdom and understand and making sure they realize what life is really about, their life is without meaning. Socrates flips the accusations. He essentially attacks his accusers about not having enough knowledge and not being willing enough to understand what real knowledge is. He claims that without self-examination, life is without purpose. He claims that these men do self-examine. This statement seals his

As the wisest man in all of ancient Greece, Socrates believed that the purpose of life was both personal and spiritual growth. He establishes this conviction in what is arguably his most renowned statement: "The unexamined life is not worth living."

Socrates has a unique position in the history of philosophy. On one hand he is the most influential on another he is the least known. In his later life he is seen to stalk the streets barefoot, to spite shoemakers. He went about arguing and questioning people and revealing inconsistencies in their beliefs. He began teaching students but never accepted payments for doing so. This was possible because of the inheritance left by his father. Socrates wrote nothing of himself so we are dependent upon the works of both his students and associates who present a view as close to

As stated before, Taylor believes that our lives are somewhat meaningless when looking at it superficially. To adequately portray this idea, Taylor first defines the word meaningless by analyzing various scenarios that produce nothing in sense of accomplishments. The first example Taylor examines is the ancient myth of Sisyphus. Sisyphus betrayed the gods by sharing holy information with the mortals, for this he was sentenced to push a rock up a hill just to let it roll down for him to push it up again; a cycle that was to be done for all eternity empty of any achievement. This pointless cycle that amounts to nothing is what Taylor defines as meaningless. “Now in this we have the picture of meaningless, pointless toil, of a meaningless existence that is absolutely never redeemed.” (Taylor 475) Taylor compares this

Socrates found his purpose through oracles and dreams by a divine power, “…since I was trying to find out the meaning of the oracle, I was bound to interview everyone who had a reputation for knowledge.” (Apology 22a), from the oracle of Apollo, Socrates believed that his purpose was to philosophize. Socrates would question reputable wise men and try to prove the oracle that he (Socrates) was not the wisest man. After interviewing men with a high reputation, Socrates began to expose them for their ignorance and their deficiency. He also determined that his wisdom was of no value, yet he was the wisest mortal. He also established that there are three levels of wisdom; “real wisdom” (the highest), being “wisest among men” (the middle), “not being wise, but seeming wise, especially to oneself” (the lowest). Even after establishing his purpose and proving the oracle, he felt as if he should still philosophize (Mission from God, pg. 20). Along with morality, Socrates had the belief that our purpose in life was to examine how to live, he thought that we must come

The term “philosophy” means the love of wisdom, and those that study philosophy attempt to gain knowledge through rationality and reason. 1 Socrates, the father of ancient philosophy, once stated “the unexamined life is not worth living”. This is the most important part of life and it is need to find purpose and value in life. If a person chooses to live their life without examination, their life would lack value and they would be unhappy. They would also be ignorant to the effects of their choices on themselves and the people around them.

Socrates is known in today’s world as one of the greatest philosophers in history. Born in 469 BC just outside of Athens, Socrates was properly brought up and thoroughly educated, he developed both physical and mental strengths. Socrates spent time with the philosopher Archelaus, where he studied astronomy, mathematics, and was introduced to philosophy. Archelaus taught with a scientific approach. Socrates turned from this approach and created his own. He decided instead of trying to understand the universe, he would try to understand himself. Socrates spent many days in the Athens marketplace where he became skilled in the art of arguing.

In addition, people of unexamined life don’t like change, and they never try to change themselves to become a better person. They don’t know why they need to change, and why they should pursue a better life. Plato used Socrates word, “It is clear then that those who do not know things to be bad do not desire what is bad, but they desire those things that they e believe to be good but that are in fact bad(10)”. The unexamined people keep repeating what they are doing every day, just like a “walking dead”. And they believe being lazy, sleep all day long, keep watching the TV show to get the entertainment is good for them. Consequently, they do not desire to do the good thing, and they are being no change, of not improving themselves. However, they should feel ashamed of doing that because they are human beings. Plato said, “It is a human being’s goal to grow into the exact likeness of a God(52)”. The examined life people always want to change, they know they are human, sometimes they make mistake. They may have a lot of weakness, that why they need to improve themselves to be a better person. Everyone is not perfect, that why we must change. And how much we should change? Plato showed us a goal, to become perfect, liked a God. Although it is impossible to become a God, it is a goal for us to pursue, try our best to change. As examined life

Maybe on a deeper level Socrates might have been talking about analyizing the purpose of one's life. This in my opinion is just as important. I feel that in order for me to succeed in life I have to at least examine the meaning of my being. I believe that it comes to a point in every persons life where they sit back and think "why am I here?" Whether it happens often or not, I wouldn't believe any person of sane health that said they never once thought about it. Socrates also said that "the good of life is knowledge." He believed in a higher good in life that could be achieved through an endless search for knowledge. His definition of higher good was when virtue and knowledge united. Although I agree that what Socrates speaks of is an important part of living, I would not go so far as to say it is the reason for liveing. I say this partially because of my definition of knowledge. I see knowledge not as just to be found in the universe, but in a way created by humans not unlike myself. Many things that are classified as knowledge such as: language, mathematics, and history are all human created. Our language was created by people in earlier civilizations, as well as mathematics. History is the story of these early people and civilizations. Should I assume that my reason for living is to learn of someone else's life? If so, what was that person's meaning for living? Undoubtitly these things are

Socrates was considered by many to be the wisest man in ancient Greece. While he was eventually condemned for his wisdom, his spoken words are still listened to and followed today. When, during his trial, Socrates stated that, “the unexamined life is not worth living” (Plato 45), people began to question his theory. They began to wonder what Socrates meant with his statement, why he would feel that a life would not be worth living. To them, life was above all else, and choosing to give up life would be out of the picture. They did not understand how one would choose not to live life just because he would be unable to examine it.