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The Life and History of Socrates

Socrates was one of the greatest philosophers of all time who questioned many individuals about their beliefs on ideas and thoughts that they take for granted by feeling that they know knowledge on a particular subject but utterly find out that they obtain no knowledge or wisdom on that subject that they felt so strongly about, which in turn, ended up being embarrassing to that individual.

However Socrates feels that if he did not live and examined his life would have been pointless because he would not have learned of all the knowledge he did. Socrates was not like every other citizen in his time who did not examine life and world around him; he would explore his mind and find knowledge of the ideas, thoughts, and values in his time period. He would not have learned all different opinions and views if he did not question the people around him.

He felt that all the other people around him were not examining reality, and to him, this was unacceptable because he would of lived life in ignorance like his fellow citizens who thought they obtained great knowledge on a particular subject when their own personal ignorance just made them think every one else’s ideas were wrong and that they were only right. And in reality, they realized that they obtained not much knowledge or wisdom because they could not the most basic questions of their life.

An example of that is when Socrates asks Euthyphro what holiness is and Euthyphro can not answer it because he does not know how to explain the definition which in actually, he has no idea what holiness is. It was a basic question, but to act as if one would know of some thing, when not actually knowing it made Socrates sad because he did not want to live like that. It was as if he was living in a false reality with people pretending to have knowledge and wisdom when they do not.

Socrates also did not like the fact that people just went with the crowd on topics acting as if they had first hand knowledge on a topic with out actually exploring it. Socrates wanted to obtain knowledge and by questioning everything around him, he was able to obtain that wisdom about the ideas and thoughts of people. As I quote Socrates, “To talk daily about what makes us good, and to question myself and others, is the greatest thing man can do. For the unexamined life is not worth living. ” Within that quote holds Socrates values of how to live an examined life. I personally feel that what

Socrates meant by that the “unexamined life is not worth living” was question the beliefs of himself and others to find out how ignorant people were on a particular subject, and also, to find a solid, truthful answer on a particular subject. By questioning people’s beliefs, he was able to dig deeper and deeper into a person’s mind by making them truthfully think about a certain idea that they thought to completely find out that they did not know what they actually thought about a subject because the answer they provided does not make sense or they can not ultimately answer the question Socrates asked them.

He did this to show that many people did not know much about life, their values, their morals, their personal ideas and thoughts, and anything else that they felt knowledgeable on. Socrates did this to show the people around him that they too needed to be more like Socrates and question the many beliefs they held to find the absolute truth on an idea. Socrates was only doing this to open up their minds to new ideas, thoughts, and opinions that they normally would say is wrong or unjust because of their strict, closed minded views on certain topics and ideas.

Socrates was trying to better the people around him by making them more wise on a subject that when done speaking with Socrates, they may go out on a question to learn more about their knowledge on personal thoughts and to explore the new opinions brought up to them so that one day they could be more wise which would benefit their lives by not being so single minded on ideas. Socrates liked questioning many individuals because it not only made the other person wiser of their ignorance on a topic, but Socrates was also able to learn more about people and their personal thoughts.

Both Socrates and the particular person he was speaking to were both able to gain more knowledge after the conversation was done because both learned about the new thoughts and ideas that were brought up in the conversation. Socrates gained knowledge, and so did the other person, even though Socrates would point out their ignorance and leave them embarrassed. Overall, Socrates questioned everyone and every possible idea or thought to expand his knowledge and understand the actual reality around him.

If I were to live a more examined life, I feel that I would have to change many aspects towards my personal thinking about ideas, thoughts, values, and my overall interpretation of the world we live in. I have to drop the aspect of that I feel that I have good knowledge about certain thoughts because I am a pretty stubborn person when it comes to arguing about a topic. My views can only change if I feel that it is necessary, but most of the time I feel that my opinion is very valid because I am a truthful person.

I do not go around lying to others and acting like I know information about a topic when I actually do not. Also, I would have to start questioning my own personal thoughts and actions more to better understand my self and the way I make choices. When it comes to acting upon some idea, I am basically split in half when it comes to thinking before I act, such as I may just act with out thinking about what I am doing.

An example of this is when I wake up in the morning, I am very tired, and like many times before I do not think about what I am doing and usually misplace my belongings in the morning because I am not thinking and it could take me awhile to figure out where they are. Also, when I a argue with others, most of the time I feel that my view point is better than some one else’s and I feel as if they are wrong and look foolish, when in actuality, I may be the foolish one because I argue my side with the wrong idea.

Also, since I am a trusting person, I generally will believe in some one’s answer to a question or a certain topic and believe in them that it is the right idea. Then I may go and speak about that idea to others who bring up the subject and it turns out I am wrong, I have done this before and have learned not to trust every one’s own individual judgment at first. I should gather and ask questions to the many individuals who side different ways about a topic and examine their answers in to who is right and who is wrong.

I should also question them more in to why they feel a certain way about a topic to better understand their individual thinking, and may be by questioning people, I will give them a better understanding of why they think in that particular way. Overall, if I lived a more examined life, I feel that I would indeed have a better understanding of the world around me and how others think because I would be observing many different individuals ideas and thoughts which could help me in making better choices about and who I hang out with.

This would be good because I have a solid set of morals and I like the others around me to feel the same way because it would make us get along better. Also, by questioning more, I feel that it would help me with school and work well so that I can exceed quicker than others by understanding exactly what I am expected of and how to do it the correct way the first time. Finally, I feel that questioning more will give me a great understanding and help me live a more beneficial life; I feel that it is a good idea and I think I will give this a try in living a more examined life.

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