During the first section of this course, one of the biggest ideas we focused on was Socrates’ quote saying, "an unexamined life is not worth living." What is an examined life? and why is an unexamined life not worth living? If we live an examined life, we reflect upon what has happened to us, the good and the bad. We reflect and try to find where God is in our life. Even with the bad things, God can be found in them, usually suffering right beside you. If we don’t take time to examine our lives, we cannot fully enjoy them. By reflecting, we can realize why things went wrong and what we can do to enrich our experiences. We can also realize all of our successes and give thanks for them.

Other important ideas to remember from this week include Plato’s allegory of the cave, the five foundational lessons, and the story of Icarus and Daedelus. Plato’s allegory of the cave tells us that many of us live in a false reality. But sometimes, people get freed from the false reality and find true reality. It is hard for this person to accept but when he finally does, he wants to go tell the others. However, when he goes back, he is met with criticism and maybe even put to death because those in the cave (the false reality) do not want to accept that they not living a full life.

The five foundational lessons are true with almost everyone. They tell us that we are making decisions and these decisions affect ourselves and others. And our decisions are also affected by our own biases.

The story of Icarus and Daedelus teaches us to act only after we have reflected on what we are doing and what the consequences may be. Icarus flew too high even after his father told him not to and paid the price by falling into the sea and drowning. He got caught up in the joy and excitement of flying that he didn’t think of what could happen if he didn’t heed his father’s warnings. This can be applied to almost any aspect of our lives, including the simple ones like eating, driving, or what we say to others.

This picture really helps me understand Plato’s allegory of the cave because it was difficult to visualize what Plato was saying. But with this picture, I can see what he is talking about and understand the entire allegory much better.

A question to keep in mind after this week is how can I live an examined life? And if I do, try to notice what changes in me will occur. Will I feel happier? More fulfilled?

To make myself a better person, I’ll keep in mind Aristotle’s metaphor for the two kinds of people in the world. He compares people to a ship with and rudder and one without. Those with a rudder have direction in their life and have a means of getting to where they want to be. Those without a rudder are just drifting and going where life takes them and cannot fully experience they beauty of life. By keeping this in mind, I can strive to be a ship with a rudder and fully experience life.