“The unexamined life is not worth living...”
-- Socrates (469-399 B.C.E.)
The above quotation had been uttered by that great Greek philosopher more than two-thousand years ago. It is true today as it was true then. Socrates died poor, rejected and misunderstood. He chose to drink the extract of the poisonous hemlock than to give up his principles. He had the chance to escape but he chose to stay and face martyrdom. Hence, he can be considered as one of the first martyrs for the cause of rationalism.
Socrates was not executed but he was ordered to take his own life. It was the reward of the city-state of Athens to a man who simply encouraged critical thinking. Socrates was accused of corrupting the youth and he was condemned accordingly. If questioning the established order was a crime, then Socrates was indeed guilty beyond reasonable doubt.
Socrates taught his students to question the validity of virtually everything. He never claimed to be a teacher of truth but just a learner himself. His method of teaching was dialectical. It was a method whereby he posited questions and his students tried to find the answers on their own through discussions and debates. Hence, syntheses of ideas were formed from theses and anti-theses.
One of the many things that Socrates questioned was the polytheist religion of his time. The rich Greek mythology that we know today was formerly a religion that was believed by many. Socrates doubted the existence of the Greek gods and the many stories related to them. He asked if the gods really do exist or they were mere personification of the forces of nature invented by humans and given human attributes.
However, Socrates was far from being an atheist. Nonetheless, his religion was more rationally-based and morally superior than the polytheist religion of his time. He was a Deist. He strongly influenced Aristotle’s idea of the “transcendent unmoved-mover.” Socrates hinted the idea of a supreme being who created the cosmos. On the other hand, when it comes to ethics, Socrates’ adhere to the principle of the summum bonum or supreme good. This principle is sometimes corrupted to the idea of greatest good for the greatest number. Socrates religious and moral philosophy were more akin to the Christian philosophy. In fact, a significant number of theological ideas of Christianity were based on the teachings of Socrates and other ancient Greek Philosophers. The great triumvirate of ancient philosophy was composed of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.
Socrates’ assertion quoted above has a corollary. If it is applied to religion, the corollary would be: “The unexamined faith is not worth having.” How many religious people have made honest examinations of their faith? Faith is meaningless if it is only based on mere subjective feelings or delusions. Christian faith, for instance, hinges on the supposed historical resurrection of Jesus Christ -- as Saint Paul has written: “And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith..” (1 Corinthians 15:14).
Now, if you are a Christian, have you ever asked yourself the basis of your beliefs? Have you ever wondered if your religion is valid? Do your beliefs merely rely on feelings and hearsays? Is your religion unshakably founded on truth or it has no rational foundations whatsoever? If you haven’t yet tried examining your faith, then, it is a faith not worth having.
