First, we should understand what the Socratic Method is, and exactly how it pertains to the idea that the unexamined life is not worthy of living. The Socratic Method is a process of questioning where Socrates would have an opponent talk about a thesis and would then deconstruct their debate through the use of questioning and critical thinking. Better ideas are found by figuring out and eliminating those that lead to contradictions. The Euthyphro offers a wonderful example of the use of this methodology. Socrates questions each of Euthyphro's meanings in regards to what piety is, and constantly shows how these meanings fail when examined critically. Socrates' contention is the fact that Euthyphro is only giving descriptions and examples of pious things, rather than actually offering an objective response to the essence of which makes a thing pious. Socrates complains that Euthyphro is stringing him along as he is not educating him what piety happens to be. It is important to note the way in which Socrates uses his method with Euthyphro. Socrates functions as the college student, and elevates Euthyphro to that of a mentor, which allows Socrates to lead Euthyphro although process of critical analysis, as opposed to simply dictating information directly to him. In this manner, Socrates allows Euthyphro to examine his own debate, and realize the flaws that plague it. This commences to give a knowledge of what Socrates recommended by his idea of the unexamined life.
What Socrates was seeking to convey along with his notions of the unexamined life had not been that one must analyze their own life for this to have worth, but instead that if one would declare that their life is valuable, they would need to look at it themselves to understand it's well worth. Socrates argues that living a life where one does not realize their ignorance is a life not worthwhile living because he views knowledge to be directly linked with virtue. To be able to live a worthy life, one must seek knowledge, which is a necessary component of his ethics. Applying this parallel we can infer that because knowledge can be learned, it must be possible to learn virtue. Out of this it practices that virtue can be taught, and we start to understand that the Socratic Method is Socrates' try to become a catalyst for others' self-examination. That is just what Socrates does with his dialogue in the Euthyphro. He feigns ignorance to elevate Euthyphro to a higher level, and guides him along the road of self-examination with his Socratic Method. Virtue then, becomes the pursuit of knowledge through self-examination. To place this in other words; one sees their life to be virtuous or honest through the answers to the questions that are helped bring forth through interior examination. Without requesting the questions, one won't have the answers.
The Apology and Crito offer strong types of Socrates' ethical school of thought. The Apology handles the defense offered by Socrates to his accusers - for allegations of impiety and problem of the youth of. Socrates' usages of the Socratic Method for the goal of promoting others into self-examination lead him to question those who said to have intelligence, and ultimately he open them as ignorant. Questioning the beliefs of the smart men resulted in his fee of impiety, and the admiration he gained by the children of Athens because of this of his actions resulted in his charge of corrupting the children. Component of Socrates' security in the trial was that through his activities he was simply seeking to act as a catalyst for the folks of Athens to ultimately find knowledge and gain a knowledge of virtue. Socrates is available guilty of the charges against him, and it is sentenced to death by ingestion of hemlock. In the face of death, Socrates possessed the choice to flee the town of Athens, but refused as it could have been around in immediate violation of his moral ideas. In the Crito, Socrates discusses why he has a duty to stay and face his demand, as well as why the action of fleeing would be unethical. To Socrates, breaking one legislations would be an injustice to all regulations and would cause great injury to the city of Athens. To flee would have been an injustice to Athens itself. Like a citizen of Athens, Socrates was endorsing, and prepared to follow the law, and break regulations now - after 70 many years of life - would in effect negate anything that he had advocated throughout his life.
The Phaedo discusses notions of life, loss of life, and the spirit. With his word looming over head, Socrates contemplates the thought of death and suicide with Cebes and Simmias. He says a true philosopher should anticipate death, but at exactly the same time however, Socrates also says that though philosophers should be eager to pass away, it is wrong to allow them to commit suicide, as he views the gods as the guardians of men and women and views suicide as a damage of the gods' possession without having permission to do so. Because fatality is the parting of the body and the heart, the philosopher is then in a position to shed all the distractions of the body - wants, needs, and doubts - which gives them the ability to find the knowledge and wisdom that they've been seeking in their lives. The practice of beliefs then, relating to Socrates, is likened to a sort of training for dying where the philosopher is named to remove himself from his bodily connection. This offers a stark contrast between the philosopher and the layman. The layman has an illusion of virtue, as the philosopher truly becomes virtuous. The philosopher approaches death with courage, gained from the quest for knowledge, as the layman can only produce an illusion of virtue as they do not participate in the practice of beliefs, and therefore cannot have the knowledge and intelligence, and cannot distinguish themselves from the hindrance of physical attachments.
The Republic establishes that justice is in the category of things that ought to be practiced because of their own good, as well for the good of their consequences. In order to understand just what justice is and what this means to live on ethically, Socrates gives an example of a city as a large scale principle, and then examines it on the smaller more specific level. He talks about how the folks of a city will have their own basic needs, but that the town all together will be distributed and will have a set up system of education. Socrates also talks about that there are four excellences in the town: wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice. Socrates compares metropolis to a person and says these four excellences must also can be found in a person within the heart. Since they all are present in the spirit and can often contradict, it is set up that the spirit is made up of parts and is also not a whole. The soul involves the rational, which judges real truth, and makes smart and competent decisions relative to an examined life. The spirited part of the soul is the foundation of desires in just a person such as love, and honor, while the appetitive facet of the spirit is the foundation of basic cravings that act as an anchor to the material and menial phrase. Within the location is available different classes of people; the guardians, the auxiliaries and the working school, all of which represent a new aspect or dynamics of the heart. The guardians are believed to be the rational, and should be the rulers of metropolis as they'll be the best suited to realize knowledge and live and action ethically because the guardians work on their own knowledge and intelligence through their inherent rationality, equally the logical part should rule of the spirit should rule on the other three aspects. From this, Socrates says that justice is creating the elements of the soul in order that they dominate and are dominated by one another according to character and invite for the individual and then for the spirit to pursue intelligence.
In bottom line, it is shown that the ethics of Socrates can be realized by examining the works of the Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo, and Republic. Socrates uses the Socratic method as an instrument to catalyze self-examination of others so which could look for knowledge. From this search for knowledge, virtue is obtained, and this is the primary goal of viewpoint in Socrates' head. Laws must be produced relative to intelligence by those who practice beliefs, and must seek to benefit the city all together. Breaking one legislation can be an injustice to all or any laws, and can be an act of ignorance. Ethics, virtue, justice and morality all stem from what Socrates calling the examined life, where philosophy can be used as a way to gain knowledge and knowledge which act as the basis for these ideals. Idea then, is not merely an occupation, but rather a fundamental element of life, and a required component of what this means to be moral.
