Chapter 2

KNOW THYSELF “What a man can be, he must be,” said Abraham Maslow. According to his hierarchy of needs, people must self-actualize in order to live fully in this world. This same philosophy can be seen in the works of the great Greek philosopher Socrates, as he is known for his principle “know thyself.” Socrates is a Greek thinker, philosopher, and a teacher, who lived from 469 to 399 BC. He is known up until this time because of the contributions he had made in this world. He is famous for his brilliant ideas about the philosophy of man. One of Socrates' basic principles about man and life is to “know thyself.” In this theory, Socrates explains that man must first know who he really is, his talents, abilities, passions, desires, and he must live according to it. If you are good with something, you must pursue it and you shall spend your life doing it. This Socratic theory can be applied to people my age. Being at this stage of life is really critical, because it will determine what we are going to do with the rest of it. Although some college students are already pursuing their passions, a few are still figuring out themselves, what they want to become. Socrates' principle can be really helpful to the youth who are still unsure of the future. By studying and examining Socrates’ works, we may be able to understand and know ourselves better. It is important that we figure out our true selves, so that we would be spending our lives being who we are meant to be. We only have one life, thus, it must not be wasted in doing things we are not happy about. We can only live our life to the fullest if we are enjoying our job, career, etc. I say that it is better if we already know what we want to become from the beginning, so we can achieve something in the end.
In connection to Socrates’ first principle, he also said that “an unexamined life is not worth living.” Same as the theory earlier, Socrates tells people that you must know yourself first, because your life