The Unexamined Life is not Worth Living: Analysis

This pandemic brought a lot of negative things not only in the surroundings but to people itself. Though there are lots of brave people out there, fighting to win against this pandemic, here I am, lurking in the corner wondering about my purpose in life. And this thought, alone, sends negative energy in my head that keeps me from growing and having rational thoughts. It pressures me and is depressing. But then, I happen to stumble in this Philosophy class and I would be lying if I said it did not help me. It helps every inch of my being especially after I got to read one of Socrates’ best quotes saying “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Just when I thought I'm not making any progress by just wondering about my purpose, this philosophy enlightened me and let me see things in a bigger picture. As Socrates said, “Wisdom begins in wonder.”

Socrates is one of those notable philosophers who helped me to cope up in this pandemic. After reading a sneak peak of his thoughts, it caused a big impact on me. As I have interpreted what he said, in order to examine one’s life, you need to know yourself, your purpose, and your barely existence in this world, and by that, a specific factor is vital to come up with it and that is seeking. In seeking, he said, “To find yourself, think for yourself”, seeking for wisdom always comes from yourself and not from others so you need to be self-reliant to not to depend on anyone. You need to rely only on yourself in order for you to enjoy glorious independence, for you're not waiting for the help of others and in that way, you’ll find if you are really suited for the path you take that accords to your purpose. You’ll gain knowledge of what you really are and what you are made for.

I know for a fact that taking an interest in knowing yourself needs a lot of effort considering the fact that we have ideals and some of them even came from other people that may affect the inside of you that leads you, unfortunately, to misguidance. We thought of it as knowledge, and so we apply, and later on forget who we really are. And honestly speaking I've been there, taking what others want me to be that deprived me from growing and controlling my own self but after countless arguments inside my head, applying what I've learned from this Philosophy class helps me to obtain knowledge I never knew i had. If wondering and examining means growing, then I declare I’m living my life with worthiness.

To conclude the essay, Socrates' quote "The unexamined life is not worth living" has helped me to understand my purpose in life. Socrates changed not only my perception but countless others and realizing all of it now, I am confident that I can make a change in this world and so others. Socrates quotes, “Let him who would move the world, first move himself”, give us time to find ourselves, change ourselves into the better, appreciate our little progress for in the future, we’ll be living in a peaceful and united world and the beauty of wisdom will be perceive because I know after taking this Philosophy class, I’ll be able to differentiate good from bad because of my knowledge and applying wisdom for it to work because I’m with Socrates when he said, “Knowledge is a virtue and ignorance is vice.” ‘Yet to live a genuinely good life, one must know what is the nature and essence of good’ (Richard Tarnas, “The Passion of the Western Life”). I may be in the process of seeking wisdom for now, but the greatest lesson I have learned in life is that I still have a lot to learn.