Plato s Apology And Ralph Waldo Emerson s On Self Reliance

Through Plato’s Apology and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s â€Å"Self-Reliance† both contend that living an unexamined life is living a life of ignorance and futility. On the other hand, living an examined life is living an enlightened life full of intelligence. I agree with Plato and Emerson’s similar ideas that without knowledge, life as it is, is not worth living. They both argue that having personal beliefs creates an intelligent society. Having knowledge allows for one to set goals and objectives to achieve within a lifetime, which gives purpose to one’s life. In Plato’s â€Å"Apology†, Plato tells the story of Socrates, a philosopher from Athens, Greece, who is accused by three men, a poet, a scholar and a politician for having opposing beliefs. His charges are all based on the fact that he is a natural philosopher and that he believes what is considered not to be the social norm. One of the charges he faces is that he is accused of being â€Å"a doer of evil, and corrupts the youth† (Plato, 198). Socrates is assumed to be someone who only harms others because he is considered to be evil. They admit that since he does not care to accept what they consider to be true, then he must be doing evil. Socrates is charged with corrupting the youth with his knowledge, yet when he addresses it to his accusers and the court, he questions the charge by stating that if Meletus, his accuser, is charging him of corrupting the youth then, â€Å"Come hither. Meletus, and let me ask a question of you. YouShow MoreRelatedCleanth Brookss Essay Irony as a Principle of Structure9125 Words   |  37 PagesMarx’s system. On the contrary, our underlying premise here is the belief that in Marx’s theory and method the true method by which to understand society and history has finally been discovered. This method is historical through and through. It is self-evident, therefore, that it must be constantly applied to itsel f, and this is one of the focal points of these essays. At the same time this entails taking up a substantive position with regard to the urgent problems of the present; for according to