Verified Document

Philosophy Don't Dream It, Be It: The Term Paper

Philosophy Don't Dream it, Be it:

the value of the "unexamined" life.

In the story of the Apology, Socrates is put on trial for corrupting the young, something which (according to his testimony) he does by convincing them to examine their life closely and learn to question all their assumptions. In the course of his defense, he makes the oft-repeated claim "...the unexamined life is not worth living..." (Apology) He supports this opinion with numerous theories regarding the value of truth and the relationship between morality and philosophy. Socrates and most intellectuals since his time, have been of the firm opinion that "higher" pursuits such as self-examination and philosophy make for a better life. However, the actual value of living the heavily-examined life could be open to debate. In fact, it is the opinion of this writer that the examined life may indeed be inferior to the unexamined life: examination may lead to an over-intellectualization of the world and a divorce from the sensualization of the actually mystic world, while over-thinking can cause one to lose pleasure and initiative.

To Socrates, the unexamined life is that life in which one is ignorant of one's ignorance. He describes how he went to wise men and...

So he questioned to himself "whether I would like to be as was, neither having their knowledge nor their ignorance, or like them in both; and I made answer to myself and the oracle that I was better off as I was." (Apology) He continues to describe how people go about their lives, condemned by their own ignorance to suffer without even knowing that they suffer. They so "go their ways condemned by the truth to suffer the penalty of villainy and wrong." (Apology) To truly understand Socrates' horror of the unexamined life, one must turn to his allegory of the cave. In this story he refers to the world as a cave in which men are prisoners. The sun beyond the cave mouth shines across objects and actors on the outside and cast shadows on the wall. These shadows are what the men in the cave, without examination, call reality. The man who has truly examined life is like one who has stepped outside the cave, and there is nothing that could convince him to go back: "if they were in the habit of conferring honors among themselves on those who were quickest to observe the passing shadows ...do you think that he would care for such honors…

Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Philosophy Kuhn's Rationale on the Irrationality of
Words: 2831 Length: 8 Document Type: Essay

Philosophy Kuhn's Rationale on the Irrationality of Scientific Revolutions "Communities in this sense exist, of course, at numerous levels. The most global is the community of all natural scientists." ~Thomas S. Kuhn, from The Structure of Scientific Revolutions To understand Thomas Kuhn's ideas regarding scientific revolutions, one must have a grasp on Kuhn's ideas relating to the history of science in general. Kuhn's perspective on the history of science is that scientific knowledge is

Philosophy Reality, Philosophy, and Technology
Words: 636 Length: 2 Document Type: Term Paper

For example, before Newton, gravity was not considered a reality because the force of gravity itself cannot be perceived via the senses. The scientific method corrects for sensory shortcomings. However, philosophers must endeavor to think beyond that which the senses deliver. Morality, Philosophy, and Technology Discussion 1: Human/Robot Interface Current robotics technologies depend on strong human controls; no android exists that can survive independently of a human being either for its creation

Dream Interpretation and Metaphysics M.Msc.
Words: 9141 Length: 28 Document Type: Term Paper

Given that archetypes appear consistent across dreamers, the impact that culture has on the meaning of archetypes and dreams, and the fact that mourners consistently have the four types of grief dreams, it seems logical that culture would impact the appearance and interpretation of archetypes in dreams. For example, given that, culturally, the mother plays a more central role in the African-American family than the father, it would seem that

Philosophy Plato's Works on Euthyphro,
Words: 1521 Length: 5 Document Type: Essay

The question arising from this claim is whether evidence exists to prove that there exists an infinitely good, powerful, and wise God where morality naturally emerges. Humes argues that is hard to imagine that an all-good, powerful God exists in this world full of pain and misery. From these claims, one can argue that this insight, or God, has both evil and good, as is present in man if

Philosophy of Education Math Field
Words: 1152 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Philosophy of Education Norma Cunningham I am a nontraditional student and I am returning back to college due to a job loss. I have been given a second chance at obtaining an education. Since I have been attending college, I was accepted into the nursing program, but I turned it down. I did this because I remember my dream has always been to be a math teacher. Everyone knows teachers are not

Philosophy of Ministry History Shows
Words: 1979 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

There exists paradigm shifts between leadership as per business community and that as per small church. Objectives run the business model while relationships run family model. In business, the leader fixes the vision and direction; but in the family, the congregation fixes the vision and the leader serves as a catalyst and conductor to achieve the set vision. In business, the pastor is the CEO; but in the family

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now