The Examined Life

I wrote this brief essay last autumn under the title: Socrates Had it All Wrong.  I have made some edits and corrections since then, but this is the gist of it.

The examined life is not only not worth living, but not living at all. Socrates said that the wiser man is the one who comes to realize the breadth of his ignorance. The fool is the one who doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. While this may be true – the contemplative man is wiser and more modest, it is ultimately a terrible fate. It is tragic really.

The path to wisdom is to contemplate your ignorance and realize how much of it there is? Socrates said that the unexamined life is not worth living. Think on this though: when are you most unhappy? When you are thinking on a negative past experience or thinking about the negative state of things. When are you most happy? During the times that “fly by.” Why? Because you’re not thinking. Thinking sort of interferes with experience. Reflection and metacognition are removed from the actual experience of living. Camus wrote that Sisyphus poured himself into his task, learned to appreciate the rock and the very ceaseless aspect of his eternal duty.  This awareness of the problem allows us to move beyond it.  Learning to appreciate the toil of our modern lives in this light is really the process of learning to live. He also vividly details the toil of the inexorable task, the recurring moment when Sisyphus turns to see his rolling rock, and contemplates his torment. This reflection is as futile as it is unpleasant. The idea that ignorance is bliss is recurring, even though it is often portrayed as negative and the bane to civilized democratic society. The fact that it recurs must mean that it is worth considering. So how now can the unexamined life be that bad?

The Stranger is a miniature dialectic for this entire argument: in the first half, Meursault lives his life without thought or contemplation. It is only through confinement and the trial that he is forced to reflect on his life. This process leaves him unfulfilled and angry, as he explodes at the Chaplin before his execution. While Meursault is arguably not a complete person for having such shallow thoughts and emotions (if any at all), he at least lives a happily innocent life.

So what is the verdict?  Probably that I overthink everything.