Today’s Teacher: Socrates (470 – 399 BCE)
The Teaching
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
— Socrates, as recorded by Plato in The Apology
Who Was Socrates?
Socrates is arguably the most influential philosopher in Western history, yet he never wrote a single word. Everything we know about him comes from his students—primarily Plato—who recorded his conversations, questions, and ultimate trial.
Born in Athens during its golden age, Socrates was the son of a stonemason and a midwife. He served as a soldier, showed remarkable courage in battle, and could have pursued a comfortable life. Instead, he chose something radical: he devoted his life to questioning people about their most fundamental beliefs.
Socrates would approach respected citizens—politicians, teachers, priests, artists—and ask them to define the virtues they claimed to possess. What is justice? What is courage? What is wisdom? Through persistent questioning (now called the “Socratic method”), he would reveal that these supposedly wise people didn’t actually understand what they were talking about.
This made him beloved by young Athenians who enjoyed watching authority figures get intellectually dismantled. It made him hated by those same authority figures. Eventually, he was charged with corrupting the youth and impiety. At age 70, he was sentenced to death.
During his trial, Socrates had the opportunity to compromise, apologize, or propose exile instead of death. He refused. He said something shocking: a life without questioning, without examining beliefs and values, was not worth living. He would rather die than stop asking questions.
He drank the hemlock and died, still teaching his students about courage and truth until his last breath.
Understanding the Wisdom
What Does “Examined Life” Mean?
Most people live on autopilot:
- Beliefs inherited from parents, never questioned
- Values absorbed from culture, never chosen consciously
- Habits formed randomly, never evaluated
- Goals pursued because “that’s what you’re supposed to do”
- Identities based on external expectations, not internal truth
- Lives spent reacting, not reflecting
Socrates says: This is not really living. This is sleepwalking through existence.
An examined life means:
- Questioning your beliefs regularly (Why do I believe this? Is it true?)
- Evaluating your values consciously (What actually matters to me? Am I living according to it?)
- Assessing your choices deliberately (Why did I do that? What does this serve?)
- Understanding your motivations (What’s really driving this behavior?)
- Knowing yourself deeply (Who am I, really? Not who I’m supposed to be—who am I?)
- Living intentionally rather than automatically
The examined life is conscious, deliberate, and awake.
Why Examination Matters
Without examination, you risk:
Living someone else’s life: Following the script written by parents, society, advertising, peer pressure—never discovering what YOU actually want.
Holding contradictory beliefs: Claiming to value health while treating your body poorly. Saying family matters most while working 80-hour weeks. Believing in equality while acting with prejudice.
Repeating destructive patterns: Making the same mistakes in relationship after relationship, job after job, because you’ve never examined why you keep choosing the same type of person or situation.
Reaching the end with regret: “I lived the life everyone expected, not the life I wanted.” “I never questioned if this was right for me.” “I don’t even know who I am.”
Socrates believed ignorance—especially ignorance about ourselves—is the root of suffering. You can’t live well if you don’t know what “living well” means for you.
The Socratic Paradox
Socrates was declared the wisest man in Athens by the Oracle at Delphi. When he heard this, he was confused—he didn’t feel wise at all.
So he went around questioning people who were considered wise. After many conversations, he realized why he was wisest: “I know that I know nothing.”
Everyone else thought they knew. They were confident in their beliefs, certain of their understanding. But when questioned, their “knowledge” collapsed.
Socrates knew his own ignorance. This awareness made him wise because:
- He didn’t cling to false certainty
- He remained curious and open
- He kept examining and questioning
- He recognized how much he had yet to learn
The examined life begins with humility: admitting you might be wrong, that you have blind spots, that your current understanding is incomplete.
How to Practice This Wisdom Today
1. Morning Self-Examination (10 minutes)
Start your day with Socratic questioning. Ask yourself:
Core Questions:
- “What do I believe about [current important topic in your life]?” (State it clearly)
- “Why do I believe this?” (Where did this belief come from?)
- “Is this belief actually true?” (What evidence supports or contradicts it?)
- “Am I living according to what I say I value?” (Check for contradictions)
Example:
- Belief: “I need to work constantly to be successful”
- Why: “My father worked all the time, society glorifies hustle, I’m scared of falling behind”
- Is it true? “Actually, some of the most successful people I know have balance. Overwork has damaged my health and relationships. This might not be true.”
- Am I living my values? “I say family matters most, but I’m never present with them.”
This is the examined life in action—questioning assumptions rather than accepting them blindly.
2. The Socratic Method on Yourself (Throughout the Day)
When you notice yourself having a strong reaction, belief, or judgment today, practice self-examination:
The Socratic Process:
1. Notice the belief or reaction: “I feel angry that my colleague got the promotion instead of me.”
2. Question it:
- “Why do I believe I deserved it more?”
- “What am I assuming about fairness?”
- “Is my anger really about the promotion, or about something else?”
- “What does this reaction reveal about my values?”
3. Go deeper:
- “What do I believe about my worth?”
- “Am I tying my value to external achievement?”
- “What am I actually seeking—the title, the validation, the money, something else?”
4. Examine the foundation:
- “Where did I learn to measure myself this way?”
- “Is this serving me or harming me?”
- “What would a wiser perspective be?”
This isn’t therapy—it’s philosophy. You’re examining your assumptions, beliefs, and values to live more consciously.
3. The Daily Contradiction Check (Midday Practice)
Socrates loved exposing contradictions. Do this for yourself:
Ask: “Where am I contradicting myself today?”
Common contradictions:
- Say: “Health is important” / Do: Skip exercise, eat poorly, don’t sleep
- Say: “I value honesty” / Do: Lie to avoid discomfort
- Say: “Family comes first” / Do: Check phone constantly during family time
- Say: “I believe in equality” / Do: Judge people by appearance, background, or status
- Say: “I want to grow” / Do: Avoid all feedback and criticism
- Say: “I value simplicity” / Do: Accumulate endless possessions
When you spot a contradiction:
- Don’t shame yourself
- Get curious: “Why is there a gap between what I believe and what I do?”
- Choose: Either change the belief or change the behavior
- Live with more integrity (alignment between beliefs and actions)
4. Evening Socratic Reflection (15 minutes)
Before bed, examine your day like Socrates would:
Write answers to these questions:
- “What did I do today?” (Just the facts)
- “Why did I do those things?” (Surface motivations)
- “Why did I really do those things?” (Deeper motivations—go three levels deep)
- “What does today reveal about what I truly value?” (Actions reveal values more than words)
- “Did I live today in alignment with who I want to be?” (Honest assessment)
- “What would I do differently with this new understanding?” (Learning, not judgment)
Example:
- I checked social media for 2 hours today
- Because I was bored and wanted entertainment
- Really? Because I was avoiding a difficult work task and seeking validation through likes
- This reveals I value comfort and external approval more than I want to admit
- No—I want to be someone who does meaningful work and finds validation internally
- Tomorrow, I’ll use social media consciously for 20 minutes, not as an escape mechanism
This is the examined life: constant self-awareness, questioning, and course-correction.
A Modern Application: The Career Crisis
Let’s apply Socratic examination to a common modern dilemma: you’re miserable in your career but can’t seem to change.
The unexamined approach:
- “I’m just not happy. I don’t know why. Maybe I need a new job? Or maybe I’m just ungrateful.”
- Keep complaining but take no action
- Blame external circumstances
- Never dig deeper into the real issue
The Socratic examination:
Question 1: “Why am I in this career?”
- “Because I studied business in college.”
Question 2: “Why did I study business?”
- “Because my parents said it was practical and would make good money.”
Question 3: “Did I choose this, or was it chosen for me?”
- “Honestly? I went along with what was expected. I never questioned if it aligned with who I am.”
Question 4: “What do I actually value in work?”
- “I value creativity, autonomy, helping people, and learning new things.”
Question 5: “Does my current career provide those things?”
- “No. It’s repetitive, heavily supervised, focused on profit over people, and I’ve learned nothing new in years.”
Question 6: “Why am I staying?”
- “Fear of change. Golden handcuffs. Not wanting to disappoint my parents. Status. Not knowing what else to do.”
Question 7: “Am I willing to live the next 30 years like this?”
- “God, no. The thought makes me feel physically ill.”
Question 8: “What would I do if I weren’t afraid?”
- “I’d explore teaching, or social work, or starting something creative. Something with meaning.”
Question 9: “What’s the smallest step I could take toward that?”
- “Talk to people in those fields. Volunteer. Take one class. Start exploring.”
The examined life doesn’t necessarily make decisions easy. But it makes them clear.
You’re not just “unhappy.” You’re living according to someone else’s values. Once you examine that honestly, you can make conscious choices about what to do next.
The unexamined life continues in misery indefinitely. The examined life at least knows why, and can choose differently.
The Deeper Philosophy
Philosophy as a Way of Life
For Socrates, philosophy wasn’t an academic subject—it was a practice, a way of living. Examining your life wasn’t something you did occasionally; it was daily discipline.
He believed virtue is knowledge. If you truly understood what was good, you would do it. The reason people act badly is ignorance—they don’t truly understand what they’re doing.
This is why examination matters so much. When you examine your life deeply:
- You see clearly what’s actually good vs. what seems good
- You recognize when you’re deceiving yourself
- You align your actions with your true understanding
- You live with wisdom rather than ignorance
The unexamined life is literally ignorant—unaware of itself.
The Courage to Question
Notice what happened to Socrates: his commitment to examination got him killed.
Why? Because questioning is threatening:
- To authorities whose power rests on unquestioned beliefs
- To traditions that survive through unexamined acceptance
- To ourselves when we’re comfortable in our illusions
The examined life requires courage:
- Courage to challenge your own beliefs
- Courage to question what everyone around you accepts
- Courage to admit you might be wrong
- Courage to change when examination reveals you’re off course
- Courage to live authentically even when it’s inconvenient
Socrates chose death over an unexamined life. That’s how important he believed this was.
You probably won’t face that choice. But you will face daily choices: comfort and autopilot, or discomfort and consciousness?
Know Thyself
The Oracle at Delphi had an inscription: “Know Thyself.” This became Socrates’s life mission.
Knowing yourself means:
- Understanding your true motivations (not just the ones you tell yourself)
- Recognizing your patterns (the same situations you keep creating)
- Seeing your blind spots (the things everyone else notices about you)
- Acknowledging your contradictions (where belief and behavior diverge)
- Claiming your authentic desires (not what you’re supposed to want)
Most people spend their entire lives as strangers to themselves. They live on the surface, never diving deep into self-understanding.
Socrates said this is tragedy. How can you live your life if you don’t know who you are?
Your Practice for Today
Here’s your challenge based on Socrates’s teaching:
Today, examine one major area of your life that you’ve been living on autopilot.
The Practice:
1. Choose your examination area:
- Career
- Relationships
- Health habits
- Financial choices
- Daily routines
- Core beliefs
- Life direction
2. Ask Socratic questions:
- “What am I doing in this area?” (State it factually)
- “Why am I doing this?” (First answer)
- “No, really—why?” (Dig deeper)
- “Where did this come from?” (Origin of the belief/behavior)
- “Is this true/right/good for me?” (Evaluate honestly)
- “Am I choosing this, or just accepting it?” (Agency check)
- “What would I do if I were living consciously?” (Examined choice)
3. Sit with discomfort:
Examination often reveals uncomfortable truths:
- You’ve been living someone else’s life
- You’ve been lying to yourself
- You’ve been avoiding hard truths
- You need to make difficult changes
Don’t run from this discomfort. This is where wisdom lives.
4. Make one conscious choice:
Based on your examination, take ONE action that reflects conscious living rather than autopilot:
- Have an honest conversation
- Set a new boundary
- Stop doing something inauthentic
- Start doing something aligned with your values
- Question something you’ve always accepted
The examined life is built one conscious choice at a time.
Essential Reading: Dive Deeper into Socrates
If this teaching resonates with you, explore these books:
Primary Sources:
The Last Days of Socrates (Penguin Classics)
- Contains The Apology, Crito, and Phaedo
- Plato’s account of Socrates’s trial, imprisonment, and death
- Shows Socrates living his philosophy to the very end
- Essential reading for understanding Socratic examination
- Socrates on love, beauty, and wisdom
- More accessible than some dialogues
- Shows his questioning method in action
Modern Interpretations:
The Philosophy of Socrates by Gregory Vlastos
- Scholarly but accessible exploration of Socratic thought
- Multiple perspectives on his key teachings
- Deeper dive for those wanting to understand the philosophy
Socrates: A Man for Our Times by Paul Johnson
- Biography examining Socrates’s relevance today
- Accessible for modern readers
- Connects ancient wisdom to contemporary life
Applied Wisdom:
The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday
- Daily practice of philosophical examination
- Heavily influenced by Socratic method
- Practical applications for modern life
The Examined Life: How We Lose and Find Ourselves by Stephen Grosz
- Psychoanalyst’s case studies exploring self-examination
- Modern stories illustrating Socratic wisdom
- Beautifully written, deeply insightful
Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
- Scientific exploration of how we think
- Reveals the automatic processes we rarely examine
- Complements Socratic self-examination with cognitive science
Closing Reflection
Socrates stood before the Athenian jury knowing he could save his life with compromise. He refused.
He said he’d rather die than stop examining, stop questioning, stop pursuing wisdom. Because a life lived unconsciously, on autopilot, accepting everything without question—that’s not really living at all.
You’re not facing execution for questioning your life. But you are facing something else: the slow death of living on autopilot, never questioning if you’re on the right path, never examining if your beliefs are true, never checking if your actions align with your values.
Most people reach the end of life and realize they never really lived—they just went through the motions, following scripts written by others, never stopping to ask if any of it was right for them.
Don’t be most people.
Today, examine something. Question a belief. Challenge an assumption. Check for contradictions. Ask yourself “why” three times about something you do automatically.
Wake up. Live consciously. Examine your life.
Because the unexamined life is not worth living.
And you have only one life.
Isn’t it worth examining?
Reflection Questions
Take a moment to journal or contemplate:
- What belief or behavior have I never questioned because “that’s just how things are”?
- Where am I living on autopilot instead of consciously?
- What contradiction exists between what I say I value and what I actually do?
- If I examined my life honestly today, what uncomfortable truth would I discover?
Tomorrow’s Wisdom
Join us tomorrow as we explore a teaching from Buddha, the enlightened sage whose insights on suffering, attachment, and liberation have transformed millions of lives over 2,500 years.
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Essential Reading: 📚 The Last Days of Socrates – Socrates’s trial and death 📖 Socrates: A Man for Our Times – His relevance today 🎯 The Examined Life – Modern case studies in self-examination 💭 Thinking, Fast and Slow – Science of how we think
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