Peter Espeut | The unexamined life is not worth living

The Athenian philosopher Socrates (ca. 470-399 BC) famously declared (reported in Plato’s Apology) that “The unexamined life is not worth living”. Plato’s student – the great Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC) – once said, “Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom”.

What Socrates was saying is that if you don’t use your intellect to examine your life, and to evaluate it, maybe you won’t have a clue as to your purpose in life, and why you are alive, or how well you are doing in the game of life; so you might as well be dead!

As far as we know, only we humans have the ability to step back and to look at ourselves, and take stock. Aristotle seems to be saying that when we examine ourselves, and come to know ourselves, and who we really are, then we have begun to become truly wise (homo sapiens). To become fully human means to use our highly developed faculty of thought to raise our existence above that of mere beasts, for if we don’t think, we are no more than animals, simply eating, sleeping, working and procreating.

Am I a good person? What does being a good person mean? How could I become a better person? The ancient Greek philosophers asked all these ethical questions hundreds of years before the birth of Christ and the Christian religion. The word philosophy (philia-sophia) means “lover of wisdom”; wisdom is not the exclusive possession of religious people; even secularists and atheists can examine their lives to find a purpose for living. Should secularists and atheists fail to examine their lives, they would be deemed unwise.

I am a religious person myself, but the study of philosophy (which includes logic and ethics) reassures me that my Christian faith is rational and reasonable, even if I cannot prove much of it using the scientific method.

ETHICS

Aristotle first used the term “ethics” to refer to a field of study developed by his predecessors Socrates and Plato. In philosophy, ethics is the attempt to apply reason to the question of how humans should live best lives. Aristotle regarded ethics and politics as two related but separate fields of study, since ethics examines the good of the individual, while politics examines the good of the community or city-state.

Why is it that in Jamaica, politics and ethics are such strangers?

Sadly, philosophy as a subject is not taught in Jamaican high schools, and at the tertiary level is not taught in the same faculty as political science.

Individuals benefit from introspection, evaluating their lives regularly using ethical criteria. How else might they become better persons? In my religious tradition we have the season of Lent (which began Wednesday), a 40-day period of purgation when we examine our lives and examine our consciences and try to be honest with ourselves about how well we are walking the walk, and then taking corrective action.

On his 40-day sojourn in the desert, the One we follow was tempted with the same three vices which face modern humanity: hedonism (a preoccupation with sensual pleasure), materialism (a preoccupation with possessing material things), and egotism (a preoccupation with showing off whatever little power we may have). And he won his battles.

Lent is a season of action, when we practise some sort of self-denial (fasting, abstaining from meat, or whatever), some sort of shedding of possessions (the old-fashioned word is almsgiving), and some sort of recognition that we are powerless over things that really matter (some call it prayer). This self-discipline helps us to really know ourselves, and to identify which part of our being is in control of the rest. It restores the balance in our lives, lest one aspect of our humanity unduly dominates the others. Hopefully, every Lent we can win at least some of our battles, and purge ourselves of some bad habit or tendency.

RESET BUTTON

In our tradition, Lent allows us to hit the “reset” button – to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off (seek forgiveness), and start all over again (until next year, when we do it all over again). Hopefully, every year we are just a little better than we were before as we tend towards perfection, even though we will never reach there.

One does not have to be religious to be introspective, and to evaluate, and change course; that is what corporate retreats are often about.

I would like to suggest that governments and political parties need to have their version of the Lenten Season. Surely a little introspection will reveal who is letting down the ship, and what action is needed to purge the party or the government of the leeches, the power-hungry, and the crooks! Sadly, it seems that the output from political retreats suggest ways to avoid transparency, detection, and accountability. No one ever seems to get expelled for malfeasance.

Do you see any evidence that political corruption is any less in 2022 than 2012, or 2002, or 1992? How many prosecutions have there been? What about convictions?

Following Socrates and Aristotle, political parties which do not examine themselves deserve to die, are not worth having around. Since politics is the art and the science of bringing the good life (and happiness) to the citizens (read Aristotle if you think I am exaggerating), where the people perish from crime, illiteracy and environmental degradation, judgement may soon be forthcoming!

The Rev Peter Espeut is dean of studies of a tertiary institution which teaches theology and philosophy. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com