In search of Socrates ,,, I have learned: According to Plato’s telling of it, Socrates said the famous sentence, “the unexamined life is not worth living” during his trial in 399 B.C. He was 70 years old, and the city of Athens had him on trial for “corrupting the youth of Athens” by “teaching them not to believe in the gods in whom the city believes.” Socrates spoke in his own defense, and it didnt’ take him long to confound his accusers by showing that they didn’t even know what they meant by “gods.” But though he won point after point at the philosophical level, Socrates did not prevail in court. He was found guilty, and the jury named the penalty as death (Socrates suggested a different penalty: free meals for life). They wanted him to promise to stop doing philosophy, and he said he’d rather die. So it wasn’t a very long trial. And there, toward the end of his penultimate speech in Plato’s Apology, knowing there’s nothing he can say that will give him an honorable alternative to the death penalty, he says this: If I say that it is impossible for me to keep quiet because that means disobeying the god, you will not believe me and will think I am being ironical. On the other hand, if I say that it is the greatest good for a man to discuss virtue every day and those other things about which you hear me conversing and testing myself and others, for the unexamined life is not worth living for men, you will believe me even less. What I say is true, gentlemen, but it is not easy to convince you. Notice that Socrates doesn’t just come right out and say it. He says, “Here are some things that you won’t believe me if I say.” It’s not quite the dramatic delivery we would want, with Socrates played by Mel Gibson, yelling “THE EXAMINED LIIIIIIIIIIIIIFE!” as he goes to his death. Just loving Socrates ,,, so good!!
Posted on: Tue, 13 Aug 2013 19:18:09 +0000
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