Throughout Euthyphro, the Apology, and Crito, Socrates has been teaching us about what philosophy is and how philosophers live. In the Appology, he claimed that, "the unexamined life is not worth living for men." (38a) In Crito, he says that, "the most important thing is not life, but the good life." (48b)
It is somewhat interesting that Socrates makes two claims (different) about the life of the philosopher. Are these two claims the same or different? What actions (physical, mental, or otherwise) make up the "examined" or "unexamined" life and how is this related to (or different from) those that make up the "good life?" And furthermore, does any of this make any sense whatsoever?
Your response should have three parts as follows:
- Define your terms. What does Socrates say the "unexamined" life is? What does Socrates mean by saying that this life is "not worth living?" What is the "good life."
- How are the two claims ("the unexamined life is not worth living" and "the most important thing is not life, but the good life") related or unrelated? Are the actions which make up both fundamentally similar or dissumilar?
- What do you think? Are these statements true? Is one true but not the other? This section requires an honest response about how you react to these statments. Even though this is a personal response, you must be able to give reasons for how and why you think this way and you must support your statement.
19 comments:
Socrates says that the unexamined life is when you live your everyday life not knowing why you do though. When Socrates means says that life is not worth living, he is saying that it is not worth living a life in which you do things but don't even know why your doing them. The good life to Socrates knows that even though you do know understand the real purpose in living, you at least contributed to society, the same way Socrates did by teaching his students.
"The most important thing is not life, but the good life" is a statement that says perhaps living a life that is just in society would make my my life worth living, and it would be an examined life because I know why I'm living my life for: to do good deeds and to live my life fairly.
I think that living a good life is just the same as having an examined life. There is no absolute examined life in our world, but the fact remains that if we believe in making our lives just and knowing that this is true for us, then this would be an examined life, because you know the purpose in your life. This is just like saying I will continue to be a teacher and contribute to my society, to make my students fit for their upcoming futures. By doing this, I know I contributed to their sucess, which makes my life a good deed and one that is good and examined.
Beheen Razawi 10.4.07
I belive that when Socrates says "the unexamined life is not worth living," he means that if one lives their life going about their day, without thinking about their origin and contemplating existence in itself and search for "truth," that is a life worth living; an unexamined one.
The good life, according to Socrates, is a life in which one searches for "truth." In essence that would mean that the "examined life" is the "good life." To Socrates, harm and slander coming your way and your financial situation and the friends you have don't necessarily make your life "good," but rather that searching for truth and spending one's time in thought does and also makes one's life "examined."
I think that both are true to a certain extent. Living a life in which one thinks about existence and searches for truth is a life well spent, but just because one chooses to not think about life and the other things Socrates thinks about, that does not make your life wasted. It also does not mean your life is good.
Most probably, anyone that thinks and searches for truth will have an exciting life and a good one, but that should not undermind the value of other people's lives.
I know many people that don't think about these questions and don't care for what becomes of them after death and what the point of life is, but I think that they are living a good life and that their lives' are of some value.
First, what Socrates means by "The unexamined life is not worth living" is that if u don't think about your life at any time at all then it is not worth living because you are just doing things without knowing why.He also states that "the most important thing is not life but the good life". He means that a life in which you you don't do anything unjust and you don't just waste it doing something without knowing why but for a purpose.
An "unexamined" life is a life in which you don't search for truth. The good life could be the opposite of that because it is a life in which you don't waste it by doing things without knowing why.
i believe both statements are true.There is such thing as an "unexamined" life as some people just live there lives and don't even question it. They don't wonder why they are doing what they are doing. There is also a "good life" in which you actually do just things and live it to your fullest. You question things wondering why they are the way they are until you cine up with an answer that seems best to you.
i think that socrates believe that the unaxamined life means a life in which you never think about the past or future and dont try to reason things out, but are content to live soley on reflxes without really using your head. he is saying that if you live that way, then there is no use in living as your life has had and will have no significance to our future, and that you have wasted your life. the good life means doing what you believe to be right, and not wronging people (two wrongs dont = a right).
i believe that the claim that an unaxamined life "is not worth living" is meant to tell that because it wont matter to any one in the future, you may as well not live it. when he says that the "important thing is not life but the good life" he is saying that it is more important to live a life aware of what the effect if your actions are and to listen but not be swayed by other peoples anilizations of what you have and should do. these actions are similar in that with the 1st one you must notice the effects of your life and find out what you can do that will be important to our future. similarily, the good life bit is supposed to tell you to do what you want to in order to do right, but to do it in such a way as to not be a bad neighbor for those around you
i believe that these statements are false, becuase while the contain to potential to truth, everylife is worth living for differant reasons, and whether you live for the future, past, or present every life creates/weaves a pattern (if youve read the wheel of time, consider everyone ta'veren) determined or not, and that every small action has a larger impact on the way that the weave will be made, so whether your life is "good" or not, it is just important as any other one, (life) whether this is acnowledged or not (this is how i try to view life)
me magical me-LCA
I believe that when Socrates says that the unexamined life is not worth living, he means that life should have a purpose and the closer you get to finding this purpose the more you undertand your life . When Socrates states that the most important thing to life is not life, but the good life, I think he means that living the actual life is unimportant but the just things that you do makes your life good.
I believe that these two claims that Socrates states are related in some way because both have to do not only with the value of your life but the type of life that you hope to attain through the actions in your life whether it be good or bad. They both also have to do with making the right decisions like not mistreating people and with searching for truth whether it be internal or about the things happening around you.
Personally i believe that these statements are true but that their is no real criteria. Just because you dont search for the answers like Socrates doesnt mean that your life isnt good and that it is wasted. To some extent though I think that alot of people today think about similar questions like these when certain aspects of their lfe becomes doubtful.
When Socrates talks about the unexamined life, I think he meant that it's a life in which you don't question the things around you. I think he meant that if you had live your life like a puppet always doing what you’re told, there is no point in living. This goes to explain how a life worth living is a one in which you do have questions or have some sort of purpose or cause in which you know what and why you do them. In this way it is a good life because it means that you had fulfill something while living and had not take everything for what it is.
The two claims of “ the unexamined life is not worth living” and “ the most important thing is not life, but the good life” relates in the way that in order to live life to the fullest one should always question and know at least that what they are doing is just. In some way this relates in the way that if you understand how to make your life worth living you can also make it a good life because you know your life is worth living.
I think that both statements are true to an extent but I don’t think the statement “the unexamined life is not worth living” is really accurate. If you don’t examine your life, but you enjoy it doesn’t exactly mean it isn’t worth living. I think that you are able to enjoy life but not examine it in the way that you don’t question everything that is happening but accept it. With the statement about the good life, a life that you don’t enjoy is like in some way an annoyance where you go through everyday without a something to look forward to. This is why I think that the first statement is untrue but the statement about the good life is true.
When Socrates says the “unexamined” life he means the life where one does not question one’s surroundings. He means that the life where someone doesn’t question anything or grow curiosity towards anything is not worth living because that person living the unexamined life will never feel the joy of accomplishing or learning something new if they don’t question things first and if you don’t do that with life and just not care about anything, you might as well not be alive because its practically the same thing as being dead. When Socrates says the “good life” I think he is referring to something similar to a life that is examined. Because in his opinion, the unexamined life is not worth living then the good life must be when you examine everything around you and question it and try to find its sole purpose.
The two claims made by Socrates are, I think, related and similar because they basically connect to what Socrates thinks life should be and what type of life is actually worth living, according to his perspective. The unexamined life is the life that is not important and not worth living. If you examine your life, like philosophers chose to do, then that, in Socrates’ opinion, is the good life because you’re not wasting your time here not doing anything, but instead you’re trying the answers behind all of life’s mysteries.
I agree with both of these statements because Socrates is right, the unexamined is not worth living. I feel this way because if you think about it, when you don’t question the things around you, you’re not stirring up any excitement in your life and that’s basically a waste because if you’re not going to live out your life with even the smallest action, you might as well be dead where there’s less excitement, possibly. I agree with Socrates’ second statement: “the important thing is not life, but the good life” because its true. It’s not important that you lived a life, but how you spent that life. If you lived for 100 years doing absolutely nothing, and contributing absolutely nothing neither to yourself nor to mankind, then your can call your life a waste because you basically did nothing. But if you lived for 100 years and you spent your entire life searching for answers to things such as piety, just like Socrates had, things that actually matter and help better understand a person then you can say you’ve lived a good life. And that is better than living a life that’s normal because a good life is better than a satisfactory one.
The unexamined life is a life in which you do not question why you do what you do. The unexamined life is not worth living because if you do not question the reasons behind your actions you might as well be dead. The "good life" is a life in which you seek the truth and are not corrupted.
The statements "the unexamined life is not worth living" and "the most important thing is not life but the good life" are definitely related. You must examine your actions to make sure that they are not corrupt or corrupting you. It is necessary to search for truth to live the good life and not the unexamined.
I believe that these statements are true. I think that if you don't consider why you are acting the way you are you cannot truly have a use for being alive. A puppet or a machine can perform tasks without questioning why they are performing them. If you are corrupt you will not question what the truth is and you will lead others away from it as well.
Socrates makes two vry different claims. One claim is that "the unexamined life is not worth living." By this he means that if you live a life that you don't even question why you are living it, and search for the answers, then you are living an unexamined life.
His second claim is that "the most important thing is not life, but the good life." When he makes this claim he means that life in itelf is not important, but how you live it. Living a good life would be living a life where you do just actions that would not only benefit you, but also the people around you.
Both of these claims gives a person's life meaning but in different ways. Living a good life would also be examining your life because if you think about it you see that when you do just things you question yourself on whether what you are doing something right, something worthwhile. Personally, I believe both these claims are true, but to certain extents. I believe that it all depends the eye of the beholder. It all depends on how a person, in this case you or me would look at it. And cin my opinion, everyone's life is worth some value, so they must be doing something right to make it that way.
First I will start out by defining the unexamined life. I believe this means living without seeking a reason for your actions or the impact they have on those around you. I believe the good life is the examined life in which the person does nothing unjust and tries to do just at all times.
The good life refers to the person who follows the good instruction, the truth or the right. This instruction comes from the people who have the experience in these fields 47a&b).
I believe the good life has to be examined because if not then one might do unjust things unwittingly thus making it worthless Socrates says that a corrupt body makes life not worth living (47e). You can find the just from the unjust by looking at what you are about to do. You take counsel on this from the persons with knowledge so as not to hurt yourself. I believe this is examining your life because you are looking at how your actions affect others and you.
The difference between the good life or the just life (48b) and the examined life is that in examining your life you can choose to do just or unjust but the good life is examined only for the purpose of always doing just actions.
I believe the unexamined life is not worth living because if we never try to understand what we are to do and not to do and try to do something good we will not have made a difference in our surroundings and we would leave earth as unproductive people. The good life is a hard concept to grasp because in doing a small just action one might forego a chance to do an even greater just deed that could have only been achieved by an action that was technically unjust.
Socrates says that the unexamined life is one not worth living,and that the "good life" is the important thing in life. I feel that both of the statements areconnected and not cotradicting in any way. What I understand is that in order to live a good life you must understand why every decision is made and how this effects you and those around you, how you live determines whether or not your life is good or not. To understand the good life you must understand what makes life bad and what is it that the good life has that the bad does not have.in examining life we understand it and then can use that knowledge to better not just ourselves but society and the world in general.
Thatlast comment was from Manuel Gmez Jr.
Socrates says the "unexamined" life is the life that is lived without discussing virtues or any other sort of important elements of life. When he says a life is "not worth living," he means it is not beneficial to anyone in terms of truth seeking, and therefore it is not necessary for that life to be in existence; it is taking up air. To Socrates, a "good life" would be where someone helps other people. A person can have a good life if they stick to the right morals.
The sayings are similar fundamentally, but they have a fundamental difference. "The unexamined life is not worth living" implies that the examined life is worth living. Also, "the most important thing is not life but the good life" means that the good life is the kind of life people should be aiming at. It is the most efficient method of living. The actions which lead to a good life (essentially sticking to morals and beliefs and being productive in this way) and the actions which lead to an unexamined life (not asking questions, being accepting of all without explanation) are completely opposites, so since Socrates says "do this (good life) but don't do that (unexamined life, a.k.a. the opposite of 'this')," he is essentially saying the same thing, except for the difference in the wording which slightly changes what he's saying.
I agree with the "good life" thing, but not with the "unexamined life" thing. The good life is important - people should strive to meet its standards everyday. It is the perfect way to benefit everyone and everything in existence. However, unexamined lives are not a waste of time. They may not be as worth living as "examined" or "good" lives, but they are worth living. Everyone ever in existence has played a role in contributing to shaping the world as to how it is today, whether positive or negative. The negatives give the positives something to do. Their lives are worth living. If they were not, they would just die - everything has a reason. Likewise, even an unexamined life has a reason for existence.
The “unexamined life”(38a), according to Socrates, is one lived without regard to the pursuit of knowledge that is worth knowing. It “is not worth living”(38a) because it does not bring you any closer to anything genuinely worth knowing. Socrates expresses in the “Apology” a belief that a worthy life is one spent becoming as close as possible to gaining a worthy knowledge. In “Crito” Socrates' ideal life is instead “the good life”(48b), which consists of a life of just action. These two views are related in that you must examine an action to judge it just or unjust. Thus, you are fulfilling his first definition of a worthy life, through your examination, aimed at determining the worth of the action. By Socrates' second definition this examination is part of what will allow you to live a “good life”(48b) by identifying the just actions you should carry out.
However, there is also a large contradiction in these views. By the first definition, it is impossible for any human to have any knowledge that is worthy. Contrarily, the knowledge of an action as just or unjust leads directly to the status of a life as good or otherwise. Therefore this knowledge is worthy to the degree that it leads to the “benefits”(47e) of “just action”(47e). As this knowledge must be one that humans can attain, if they must use it to validate the quality of their lives, it is by the first definition unworthy. Here the definitions contradict because if the first is fulfilled the other is invalid.
Jia Hang Li
I think that the unexamined life is referred to some1 who has never tried to find the truth. Socrates says that the unexamined life is not worth living, he means that people who do not try to find the truth and the reason for all their actions, then they do not deserve to live. And a good life according to the conversation in Critos would referred to someone who has never wrongly mistreated anyone in their life. In Critos socrates again makes a statement very similar to the one in Apology, "the most important thing is not life, but the good life" since good life is defined as a life that has never mistreated others, then a life would be one that has mistreated others. Since it is not possible to never wrongly mistreat someone in one's whole life time, and it is also impossible to achieve an examined life. In ways these two statements are very closely related. These two statements are both true, I think that if someone does not know what he/she is doing and doesn't have a reason to support his action, then there is no reason to be living. And if someone who continuously mistreat others, I don't think he deserves to live either.
lucca castrucci
i think that what socrates is trying to say, is that if you dont examine what you have done, or will try to do, then if your life has any value, it will not because of your own merit.... if you live your life by "living in the moment," and not trying to find a justification for your actions, them your life will be like a sham because you will never intentionally acomplish anything. I feal that anyone can do anything, but what matters is if you do it intentionally or random effect of an action that you made for the heck of it.
If you do not try to make goals or reasons for your actions, then we will have no way to measure the worth of what you have done, and so we must assume that your unexamined life has no worth as you have demonstrated such to be the case.
What truly matters is that you do all that you can to find a truth or cause to devote you life to, and be willing to accept critisism whether or not it changes your resolve or not. if you can not do thi, than similar to above, you zeal has consumed you, making your life worthless, because you will not in any way contribute to anything, because you will ignore the things that you should notice (whatever they are), and the "good" thing to do is (i think) philosophize, in which you can be single minded,
so i believe that you must be focused, and ready to hear others fealings on your actions, but not fold over to critisism or compliments in order to live the "good life'
Archer: Lana, introspection is the enemy of happiness. So, my advice is don't. Always worked for me.
Lana: Has it, though...
Archer: (chuckling) I-I don't know, that's the beauty.
Post a Comment