Socrates' Ideas To Athenians

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are all about – and is there anything about which a man of even small intelligence would be more serious than this: what is the way we ought to live?” (Gorgias)

Many people never consciously contemplate this question of how one ought to live. Instead the course of their lives is largely determined by the cultural values and norms which they unquestionably adhere to. But according to Socrates, the examination of this question is very important as it is through striving for answers to it that one can hope to improve their life. One of the reasons why most do not consciously contemplate this question is because it requires that one attain self knowledge, or in other words, turn their gaze inward and analyze both their true nature and the values which guide their life. And such knowledge is perhaps the most difficult knowledge to obtain.

This conviction is conveyed in perhaps Socrates’ most famous statement: “the unexamined life is not worth living” (Apology). ...

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is the state of our soul, or our inner being, which determines the quality of our life. Thus it is paramount that we devote considerable amounts of our attention, energy, and resources to making our soul as good and beautiful as possible. Or as he pronounces in Plato’s dialogue the Apology: “I shall never give up philosophy or stop exhorting you and pointing out the truth to any one of you whom I meet, saying in my most accustomed way: “Most excellent man, are you…not ashamed to care for the acquisition of wealth and for reputation and honor, when you neither care nor take thought for wisdom and truth and the perfection of your soul?” (Apology 29d)

After coming to the ...

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