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Why The Unexamined Life Is Not Worth Living Essay

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Until recently I was unacquainted with medical humanities. Now, I cannot imagine a program more compatible for me than medical humanities. I have been determined to become a medical practitioner for an extensive amount of time. I love every single aspect of practicing medicine. However, I was worried that my study of medicine would consume all of my time, and consequently I would no longer be able to study another field I am passionate about: humanities.
In this essay I am excited to discuss what I have discerned from Socrates’s dictum; “the unexamined life is not worth living”. I was first exposed to Socrates as a freshman during the humanities class I was taking, and his teachings made a considerable impact on my life. Many of my own outlooks towards life can be considered a consequence of the wisdom I found in Socrates 's words. I am convinced that Socrates believed that the purpose of life was to acquire knowledge and understanding of oneself and the world. In order to arrive at this conclusion and understand the essence of his statement I had to consider the life of Socrates and the events leading up to his death.
Socrates lived in Athens during the Golden Age of Ancient Greece, and is known as the father of western philosophy. Socrates believed in the pursuit of …show more content…

It was during this trial that Socrates would utter the words I have found so guiding. By a jury of 500 men, Socrates was found guilty. The jury solemnly delivered him his punishment; he would swear to discontinue his way of life, or he would be executed. Shockingly Socrates settled upon the latter. Why would he choose death? The answer is given by Socrates himself: "the unexamined life is not worth living". Socrates knew that he could not live without pursuing wisdom, he believed that it was the ultimate purpose in life. He embraced death over living an unexamined

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No matter which path death is, death is a gain. One will either be a peaceful sleep, or a journey to another world filled with intelligent people and knowledge. He had support to his theory, but only talked about conversing with people from the past. The apology is repetitive in the last two paragraphs because Socrates desired to talk to all these different people. He did not clarify as to why living on Earth was cruel and that death was the only answer.

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Examining one’s life can bring many joys. There are many things that give people the idea that their lives are meaningful. These ideas could be the pursuit of pleasure and happiness, entertainment, sports, power and money, possessions and security, being famous and success, meeting other people, knowledge and every other thing that can give the smallest amount of happiness to the person. In the apology Plato describes Socrates’ venture to question people would were wise and content with their wisdom, but when they asked a series of questions to test their wisdom they were revealed not to be wise and were now upset. The flaw in that was that these people did not examine what had happened to them and did not learn from it.

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With those two teachings, comes another one of his more deeply meaningful quotes “an unexamined life is not worth living for a human being”. This statement by Socrates is one that gets a human being to think about what he meant by what an examined life or unexamined life is. His quote is telling people to go through life and analyze and question things, because if not they have not lived life the way it should be for a human being. Without examining life, life would become a stagnant environment, never evolving from past cultures and past ideals.

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Socrates & Snowden Socrates was a true believer that true pleasure only comes when individuals live a moral life. He believed that an individual’s inner life, or the soul, is the most important part of life. Each person must keep his or her soul healthy, by seeking truth, self-knowledge, justice, and goodness. Socrates believed that any soul in search of fame, wealth, and power becomes ignorant, sickly, and weak (Claudia, 270). He was concerned with strengthening his inner self by examining and criticizing it.

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In this essay, I will present an argument that shows that Plato will convince Socrates to reconsider his decision to receive the death sentence. Plato would show Socrates that his three reasons for staying to receive his sentence is unjust because his action is fuelled by injustice. I will also show that Socrates will agree with Plato about the unjust consequences that his actions may bring after Plato reasons why Socrates is doing an injustice. Finally, Plato would then proceed to show Socrates that his decision to stay cannot result in happiness and justice which in turn will cause Socrates to re-evaluate accepting his death sentence according to his own ideals of a happy and just life.

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