Care of the Soul and the Examined Life

Abstract

Philosophy’s first question, How shall we live?, is examined in this dissertation through the figure of Socrates, first as portrayed in Plato’s works and then subsequently as interpreted by scholars, philosophers, and “poets,” in the broad sense of the word. The inquiry focuses on themes of concern to Plato and subsequent interpreters of Socrates, which are of continuing concern today. These include definitional questions: What is justice, piety, virtue and how do these qualities connect with the well-lived life (if they do)? Also, themes concerning the inter-relationship of the rational and extra-rational: In what manner and to what extent might or should one’s critical reasoning and interpretive faculty intersect with extra-rational sources to provide guidance and meaning to one’s life. Also, What role does aporia and critical examination play in the care and cultivation of the soul? Does the life of self-examination and examination of others, as modeled by Socrates, make one better, more virtuous, or otherwise improve one’s own life or the lives of others and if so, how so? Finally, this study ends with questions of love: What kind of lover was Socrates? Is his relentless drive to virtue through examination and the care and cultivation of his own soul render him essentially an egoist and failure in the ways of love or, as he himself claimed, an expert and adept in this field—ignorant though he acknowledges himself to be in all others? Is Socrates’ brand of love worthy of admiration and emulation, or is it merely self-absorbed, lacking in essential humanity, and even dangerous?