The Unexamined Life Is not Worth Living: Critical Essay

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Socrates was an ancient Greek philosopher who believed that people must concentrate more on self-development and personal and spiritual growth than material things. He encouraged people to make and develop friendships and love among themselves. In one of his most renowned statements, he states, ‘The unexamined life is not worth living’. He is not saying that the unexamined life is not worth living at all, but if you don’t examine and question things happening in your life, you will have a less fulfilled life than if you questioned common ideas or beliefs and thought about actions and their consequences. The Amazon Rainforest burning, the ocean being polluted and full of plastic, the song “Man In The Mirror” and the Hong Kong protests all have parts that relate to the idea of the unexamined life is not worth living.

The first example of an unexamined life that is not worth living is what’s happening in the Amazon Rainforest. The forest being on fire is an example of when people don’t question their actions before they make their decision to act which includes their thoughts on any ethical issues and environmental impacts. A BBC article states, “They can be caused by naturally occurring events, such as lightning strikes, but this year most are believed to have been started by farmers and loggers clearing land for crops or grazing.” These farmers and loggers had to their job because of the money and big companies wanted the timber for more money, but if they questioned and examined what they were doing before they carried out the job, it would have uncovered the long-term impacts on the environment, the land, and the animals. The farmers and loggers could have talked to the government or agricultural and environmental scientists and experts to get their opinion and thoughts on what environmental impacts this could have before it happens.

Another example is how much plastic there is in the ocean. We are surrounded by plastic. It’s used in bags, clothing, and most especially single-use products like bottles, straws, and containers. The most amount of single-use plastics produced is from restaurants and cafes. The number of plastic straws, soft drink bottles, take away containers, cups, plastic bags being sold to people that don’t realize where it all goes after they’ve thrown it away.“Fish in the North Pacific ingest 12,000 to 24,000 tons of plastic each year…Sea turtles can mistake floating plastic garbage for food…Hundreds of thousands of seabirds ingest plastic every year…Marine mammals ingest, and get tangled up in, plastic.” This example is similar to the Rainforest but with the ocean, all of us contribute towards the cause. If you don’t examine what you do and get in your everyday life and what it contributes to, then it’s hard to identify and change what you’re doing.

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