Apology, Euthyphro, And The Allegory Of The Cave

What does Socrates mean when he says that “an unexamined life is no life for a human being to live?”. As I read Plato’s Apology, Euthyphro and The Allegory of the Cave, I could sense two things about unexamined life. First, unexamined life means someone who lives in self-reflection such as sin, guilty, and self-examination. According to Socrates, for living life, the most important one is that should be analyzed and explore the mind itself. One of an important thing, self-reflection of our inner mind gives us the ability to not only understand ourselves more enough but also our relationship with the universe. According to his thinking, without self-reflection, we can give up the chances to evaluate ourselves and our the central axis. In order
to grow up continually, reduce mistakes in the future, we should do self-reflection again and again. As a result, he believes we can set a goal and lead to success through doing self-reflection then we can grow more. Second, the unexamined life is basically a life that someone lives by somebody's rules or disciplines and someone never examines if someone wants to follow those rules. Examined life means free life. When Socrates was in the trail, he said: “unexamined life is not worth living”. The judge wondered his statement and didn't understand what is his statement’s meaning. Socrates left that if he was unable to examine life, he would not be really living. According to Socrates, living meant make questions and take answers in the world around him. Socrates meant living in examined life, and thinking continues things what around us, and getting answers and realization. The first one, self-reflection, in Asia, Through the words of many wise men who were in Asian, the word “Self-reflection” can be easily seen and received education from a young age.
Let's look at an example of Confucius who is most famous for self-reflection. He always said that when he was talking about adults, he emphasized reflection of own-self. Confucius regarded the reflection obtained through people and people so much as to have an anthropological relation of Confucius. That is to say that it grows through self-reflection like the saying of Socrates. For one thing, for example, I have deeply learned the word “self-reflection” when taking a course about relationships. I had the time to learn intensively the word "self-reflection" in some way, learning what is important. Growing up and development what everybody feels what is difficult words but, If you have time to reflect on yourself, not in this sense, you can learn what is wrong with me and how to fix it. After I analyzing, I can understand what Socrates wants to say through “unexamined life is no life”. As my experience, when I was young, my mother always treated me after I made mistakes, she gave me time alone in a room. She only said to me “think yourself what is wrong with your acting and behaviors”. This is really common treatment in my hometown when someone’s kids have mistakes. Giving time for thinking yourself. That is self-reflection. I totally agree “unexamined life is no life” what Socrates said at trial If this saying’s meaning is right same as what I thought. Not in difficult terms such as development, growing up, just we are able to think yourself by oneself without any helping what is right or not. I think that is all of the human
learning. Next, is the Socrates saying is interpreted like living in the rules and examined life means freedom. We already live in a lot of rules such as laws, orders, principles etc. I tried to think after interpreting like this, “how is the earth going to be without rules?”. Of course, those who consider conscience to be important and who value freedom are likely to have opposite feelings about the rules.
I basically like to respect the rules very much. Even though that rules are like traffic lights on the road without cars, throwing out trash where people do not live, I think the law is to protect. Why did Socrates choose to die in spite of the suggestion what is able to escape from prison? He believed that observing the law was a promise to the state and a way to maintain the order of the country. This is the basis of the rule of law we now live in. There are many reasons to keep the law. It can protect the rights and freedoms of individuals, show justice, and maintain the order of society. However, the importance of this law is eventually achieved by the voluntary compliance spirit of the individual. This is what Socrates wants to say. If we are free to the law, we can be in a more free situation. But this is not all. To live in this great world and society, laws are necessary to maintain order and a voluntary mind to keep it must be in our minds. For example, Elfriede Jelinek, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature, said: “Law is the least of morality”. Augustine of Hippo who is a great philosopher and thinker said “Freedom is for the first time protected by law. There is no freedom in this world other than the law”. This is most similar to Socrates’s saying. Of course, a lot of great men said the law is useless or law is not all, but my thinking, the law must exist. Failure to obey the law can be described as a punishment for the wrongful act of the moment, but it is an act of depriving equal rights. I can relate to my thoughts in front (self-reflection and self-maturity what I mentioned above), and there is a word to tell when talking about the spirit of compliance. It is a mature civic consciousness, social consciousness. This means the degree of mental attitude and aspect of individual society. The superiority of most law-abiding principles can mean that citizenship is very high, which means that self-maturity is well established. For me, Socrates' life and society seem to mean something like this. It seems to be a society that it is the life, the support, and the foundation to study about oneself until the mature self and the social foundation of each individual, the law is harmonized and the person is freed more and just before the death. It seems that it was a meaningful time when the meaning of Socrates was interpreted through the analysis of the text and at the same time the learning was realized. Previously, for me, Socrates was just a philosopher, and now it has become a great man who really gives a definition of life and how to set it up. My interpretation is not an unconditional correct answer, but it was so good that I had an opportunity to learn through my own interpretation.