“The Unexamined Life is not worth Living”
What is life? What are the fundamentals of life? How can someone say that the life he/she
have is a worthy life? What are the ways on making our lives somewhat worth living for? How
are we going to live a life that we can say valuable? And many more questions run into my
mind as I am putting myself into a deep thought about this Socratic philosophy.
Humankind has been wondering what the point of life is. And, clearly, responding or
describing what the essence of life is would not be simple for anyone alone. Nonetheless, if it
is pointless, one's life is tiresome, and if it has an aim, an objective, it is not monotonous. Life
is all about moral choice, experiences and discoveries. We do things throughout our lives that
will shape us for our future, be it personal decisions, economic choices, or decisions that
affect the way we carry ourselves on a regular basis. Life is unpredictable, we can’t even say
why we are here, our role on this world, and many more. Life is unfair, some are trying to fight
for their lives, some are pulling themselves from death, some are buying the life that they
want, some can easily have the life that others do not have but still complain about it. And
finally, life is survival, all of us here do different duties in order for us to live day-by-day.
If billion of population on this world will be asked about what fundamentals of life are, a pile of
different answers will be given. Because we all have different viewpoint about life, we all have
our own ways on how we are going to analyze how vital it is. It will depend on each of us how
we are going to define what is the essence of it. Many people might say that its happiness
which make life as essential as it is, some may say its all about success, some will think that
it’s the family, money and many more thoughts about it will come out. But the bottom line here
was there are no specific fundamentals of life, it is because we all have different ways on how
we live the life given to us.
An unexamined life leads us through life without really thinking about the choices,
experiences and discoveries we have made. What are we here on earth for, without
experiencing life and worrying about it? An examined life makes it possible for us to focus on
the past, think about the future, and flourish in the moment in which we live. This famous
statement strongly outlines that one must examine oneself first and then someone else in
society to gain more understanding and contentment of life in order to create a meaningful
life.
Each day, to seek the purpose of life and live a positive life, one must examinate oneself. We
live in a society of "development." as we know. It is necessary for one to understand who he
is, what he is doing. If not, it would not be possible for one to live a decent life. Because if he
doesn't understand what his existence really is about, one will not be able to discover his life's
meaning. One would be ignorant and deceive to himself without inspection. One obscures
himself, which means that he doesn't know what he's doing is right or wrong. He's really doing
it unconsciously. He does it right sometimes. If one does not analyze himself, he will not be
able to grasp his faults and correct them. He becomes disappointed and moves down into the
whole of sin and evil steadily, digging it up for himself. On the other hand, one must not be
contented on observing himself, because there are things that may seem right for him but not
for the others. Self-satisfaction should not be in line because we must always examine
ourselves in order to fulfill the worthy life that we are dreaming of. Life changes day-by-day,
because change is the only thing that is constant in this world. One must have a move and
make a change to adapt to new situations so that he will not be left behind and will not regret
the things that he haven’t done. However, in his entire life, one would not fully imply that he is
living a righteous life. To some, examining is a concept of doing things to someone with a
selfish reason or damage. On the other hand, self-reflection is to acquire knowledge for a
virtuous man, to pursue the greater good, and especially to strengthen the immoral soul.
Thus, an unexamined life with a selfish reason and an examined life would never find
happiness in life. And the life examined must be centered on the virtue of man, in order to find
contentment and the purpose of life.
