An unexamined life is not worth living
Around 500 B.C., the Axial Age of Human Spiritual Civilization began. Four philosophical ideas, which emerged almost simultaneously in four different places; The great teachers of civilization descended to the mortal world as if they had made an appointment. Confucianism and Taoism in ancient China, Buddhism in ancient India, philosophy in ancient Greece, and Jewish thought in ancient Israel. What the four sages gave birth to was not the presentation of dotted thoughts, but the comprehensive explosion of the system; Nature, ethics, morality, good and evil, idealism, materialism, existence, nothingness, and so on have been thrown aside, and regardless of whether human beings at that time could chew on it or not, we are still digesting these things left by them.
Socrates, the "founder of moral philosophy" from ancient Greece, did not leave any writings. Everything about Socrates comes from the elaboration of others, mainly these three people: the philosopher Plato, the ancient Greek general historian Xenophon, and the Athenian playwright Aristophanes. The first-hand information left behind by these three men is the main source of information for us to understand and reconstruct the real Socrates.
The Pleadings of Socrates depicts Socrates defending his philosophical wisdom in the face of the accusations of the Athenian people. The essence of the defense is the conflict between philosophy and politics; The purpose of politics is victory, while the purpose of philosophy is truth. Politics is the inevitable situation of life in the world, and no one can really live in isolation; But once politics develops, it will have its own logic, and people who make a career out of politics will form their own political interests. Thus, for the sake of the political interests of a politician or a city-state, politics may deprive people of the pursuit of true beauty. Socrates' critique of politics is precisely this incomplete critique. He did not completely deny politics or Athenian realpolitik, but urged politicians to be aware of their own shortcomings and to pursue wisdom in life in addition to political affairs and political logic. This critique of Socrates, while well-intentioned, is very unpolitical. He not only directly pointed out the flaws of politicians, but even said them in front of everyone; Even if politicians sincerely admit these shortcomings, they must defend their political dignity and authority for the sake of their own political lives. The jealousy of Socrates further illustrates the fundamental conflict between politics and philosophy.
The reason why man can only know ignorance at best is because of the inherent defects of mortal man. The purpose of philosophy is not to allow people to acquire knowledge that they do not have, but to fully understand their own limitations and virtues. Socrates' educational and philosophical activities are to find a certain possibility towards a better life through constant dialogue with different people, through the continuous denial of pseudo-knowledge, and to inspire people to care for their souls. Whether it is oneself or others, they are denying the bad life in constant examination. This is a philosophical activity for one's own thinking; For others, it is an educational activity. Since these activities take place at any time in people-to-people exchanges and dialogues, they always have a political character, not mere individual thinking; But since this kind of political activity is always negative, it is always against the injustices and defects of political life. Of course, this confrontation comes at a heavy cost. Not everyone is willing to accept such a denial; Most people do not want to be denied by Socrates. They saw dialogue more as a political rivalry with Socrates than as an educational activity. They are concerned with whether they will win the conversation and whether they will be humiliated by Socrates, not whether their lives will be examined and whether false knowledge will be eliminated.
The Argument of Socrates became my introductory lesson in philosophy; Philosophy is not an abstract concept that is put on the shelf, but a universal activity. It's so common that whatever you do can and should include philosophical activities.
Socrates said, "Astonishment, this is especially a state of the philosopher." Other than that, philosophy has no other beginnings. "Young children always like to grasp a concept they don't understand and keep asking questions. Questioning the unknown about this process, the representation of philosophy. Unfortunately, early childhood is the period when most people's philosophical abilities are at their highest. Due to the reduced tendency to respond to the stimulus caused by repeated exposure to the same stimulus, we gradually become accustomed to fitting the objective world, but let ourselves be caught up in the life of firewood, rice, oil and salt without realizing it. If the innate philosophical ability of young children is full, then the process of growing up is the process of constantly losing innate philosophical ability, and eventually it becomes almost non-existent.
Whether in childhood or now, our ability to philosophically speculate is limited. Each of us has a strong ability to ask questions, but our ability to get answers to questions is limited. Regain the habit of asking questions like a child, that is, rediscover your innate philosophical abilities. Lao Tzu said, "Return to the baby". Nietzsche said that there are three changes in life: "the camel, the lion, and the baby". And babies are the highest level of consciousness.
philosophy，philia+sophia”。The word philosophy is made up of two Greek words: love, wisdom.
No one in the world has true wisdom, but it exists.