Philosophy can be defined as a love of wisdom. A philosopher can be defined as a lover of wisdom. Socrates would have defined himself as a philosopher, one who refused to give up philosophizing because only through philosophy could he accomplish his duty to God and pursue goodness through getting to know himself. This is why Socrates chose death in the end, for life is not worth living if one can not continue to seek truth and get to know their own self. In Plato's Apology we see Socrates make this great claim that the unexamined life is not worth living and he reveals what this would be like.
In Plato's Apology, the turning point in Socrates arguments came when he claimed that the unexamined life is not even worth living. This claim by Socrates clearly tells us that only in attempting to come to know ourselves and understand ourselves do we give our lives any meaning or value.
Portrait of Socrates. Marble, Roman artwork (1st c...
English: The School of Athens (detail). Fresco, St...
Socrates-1-According to Socrates, the philosopher tries throughout his life journey to examine life and come to know himself. A philosopher is only involved in activities of the highest moral value, which help him seek truth and bring him closer to knowing himself. To the philosopher, things such as wealth and honor are just insignificant concerns next to the pursuit of truth and perfecting ones soul.
We learn that Socrates believed his wisdom came from acknowledging that his wisdom was imperfect. In other words, he knew that he did not know everything and did not attempt to explain things that he didn't know. This especially included the topic of death. Socrates did not know what awaited him in the afterlife, and therefore he concluded that he could not fear it. Fearing death is certainly just another kind of false wisdom,