Answer to Question #247699 in Philosophy for Mika

Question

1. How reflecting, analyzing, criticizing and "knowing you know nothing" can be used as a tool to open new ideas?

2. Based on your Socrates' quotation "The unexamined life is not worth living" in what way that the process of self- examination can help a human person in achieving the holistic understanding of himself/herself?

Answer 1

1) Knowing that I know Nothing is a classic quote by Socrates which means that only person who thinks that he knows nothing will try to achieve knowledge from anyone and everyone he comes across in life then that person might be a king or a beggar. By reflecting, analyzing, and criticizing the statement makes one to wonder and from such he/she can generate more ideas. In such there is always something new to learn, giving one's life meaning and purpose. One must begin with admitting one's ignorance. After all, Socrates' dialectic method of teaching was based on that he as a teacher knew nothing, so he would derive knowledge from his students by dialogue.

2) Socrates means that if you do not use your mind to ask questions and try to discover the truth about life, there is no point in having that mind, and you might as well be dead. The examined life is a life characterized by moral self-examination. On this rendering of it Socrates asserts that there is no greater good than moral self-examination and that a life which is not morally self-examined is so bad that it is not worth living.