Comparing Plato's The Apology And The Republic

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To Examine or Not to Examine? That is the Question

In Plato’s texts, The Apology and The Republic, he provides insight to Socrates’ belief that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” In this theory Socrates syas that life is not worth living so long as people fail to seek wisdom and knowledge on how to live a life of goodness and worth. Wisdom and knowledge are tools that help people learn about life and find it’s value. Socrates believed and taught that when life is examined, you can see the proper way to live it. Throughout Plato’s Republic we are exposed the ideas of truth, goodness, and virtues and the role they play in Socrates’ philosophical life, and in The Apology, we see him defend his beliefs. Before we can determine if Socrates was correct in stating that, “the unexamined life is not worth living,” we
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In the cave, we see two chained prisoners who are restrained in such a way that they can only face forward to see a wall on which shadows are present. This represents imagination. Because the shadows are all the prisoners have been exposed and is all they know, in their eyes, that has to be what is true. Next, we see the puppets, behind a wall, manipulating the statues that are producing the shadows the prisoners see, using the fire that is behind them. Outside of the cave there is a pond in which we see thought in the form of reflections. In the water the reflections of the physical objects are seen. Which brings us to understanding, where the physical objects are visible and it is realized that the other versions of the objects were just manipulations. Through breaking down the different parts of the cave we see how every step is a critical piece in the philosophical life, which ultimately leads to the acquisition of truth during the processing of