In my meager attempt to outline an examined life, I have now come to one of the most important topics. Education may quite possibly be the greatest support, save the Light of the Triune God opening our eyes to His glory, in our attempt to live an examined life. However, education rarely conjures the same images to different individuals. A subject–no, a battleground–where ideologies fight over hearts and minds. An arena where many Christians are torn limb from limb by the ravenous beasts of lies, contempt, and rebellion. Why? Do we not have the truth? Can we not proclaim it well? Are we afraid? Unroll the rest
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In my last post I pondered the question of an unexamined life and I hope to further that discussion here. To recap, the unexamined life, as Plato describes it through the mouth of Socrates, contains three elements. First, it has no regard for the value, either good or bad, of an action. Second, it places personal comforts or properties above the betterment of one’s soul. Third, it has no foundation of reflection, virtue, or determination with which to complete the race of life. As I venture further to answer this question, it requires an examination of the different factors within our society and our humanity that help or hinder our quest. If one desires to live the examined life, he or she must first be able to analyze thoughts and actions and make judgments about them. This requires three things: (1) the ability to think critically, (2) an understanding, at least in some degree, of the scope of these actions, and (3) a standard by which to judge. Specialization deals mostly with point two, but I will address it within all three. Unroll the rest
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Having recently finished Plato’s Apology, questions regarding an unexamined life have been rising to the surface. For those of you do not know, the Apology is Plato’s record of Socrates’ trial. It is written in the form of a dialogue with Socrates and Meletus, one of his accusers, as the main characters. Near the end of Socrates’ second speech he makes the statement:
“For if I tell you that to do as you say would be a disobedience to the God, and therefore that I cannot hold my tongue, you will not believe that I am serious; and if I say again that daily to discourse about virtue, and of those other things about which you hear me examining myself and others, is the greatest good of man, and that the unexamined life if not worth living, you are still less likely to believe me.1” Unroll the rest
- Plato. Apology, in Five great dialogues, ed. Louise Loomis, trans. B. Jowett (New York: Walter J. Black, 1942), 56. ↩
Posted in Examined Life, Major, Questions
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