The Unexamined Life

The final queston on my philosophy exam is as follows:

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” -Socrates

After everything we’ve studied in this course, what do you think this means?

Here’s my favourite answer from a student:

These are the ramblings of a madman. Socrates was an incredible thinker, but I cannot agree with this statement. He is saying that the beauty of life comes from reflecting upon it; reflecting on the nature of existence, the human condition, and all the aspects of the life that we live. 

This does resonate greatly with a few people, and I myself am guilty of indulging in the benign pleasures of pressing the inquisitor’s torture devices against the nature of my existence to try and squeeze some answers out of it. However, for the most part, life is better when we live it. If I was given a million dollars, I would spend it. I would not keep it in a pile, staring at it, wondering why I have it. It would be a terrible waste! 

Life is a gift. I understand that some people are less gifted. Many people live horrible lives and are in terrible conditions. However, there are many beautiful experiences of life that are constant in all environments, no matter how hostile. So for the most part, life is beautiful. We should live it, enjoy it, and, if we want to, reflect critically upon it. But life with no critical reflection is still worth living. 

Life is worth living because we can feel pleasure. We can feel pain and know we’re alive. We know pleasure because of pain and vice versa. Those are the two forces that hold together the human condition and the experience of life. 

We can watch our children grow up to become valuable members of society who live life with all the values we raised them with. We can look at this, and know we have done good. We can walk out of the operating room and tell a mother that her baby is going to live, and we will know we’ve done good. We can write beautiful plays and music and watch the audience weep and cheer, and we will know we’ve done good. We can heal the world and make it a good place. We can sleep with people we love and feel the physical and emotional pleasures. This is what it means to live. We live for life itself, not for the ability to reflect upon it. The reflection is an option, and people’s lives are perfectly valuable without it. 

Life is worth living regardless of whether or not we examine it. Philosophy is a hobby, not a compulsory activity that dictates the value of a life. I understand what Socrates is saying. Many people enjoy philosophy, myself included. But it has never sat right with me that he uses the phrase “not worth living.” Berate me if I am misunderstanding the question. I have told you what I think it means, and I have told you why I think it is grossly incorrect. 

“Not worth living”. . . It’s a rich joke coming from someone who threw his life away by insulting the jury . . .