Meaning

Socrates is saying that a life spent without self-reflection, without questioning one's beliefs, values, and actions, is hollow and ultimately without real worth. The point is not that life must be philosophically sophisticated, but that the deliberate, honest examination of how and why we live is what gives existence genuine meaning. To drift through life on habit and assumption alone is, in his view, to miss life entirely.

Context

These words appear in Plato's account of Socrates's trial in Athens around 399 BC. Charged with impiety and corrupting the youth, Socrates used his own defense as an occasion to explain his lifelong mission: probing people's assumptions and exposing unexamined certainties. The statement comes at a moment when he is explaining why he cannot simply stop philosophizing in exchange for his freedom. For Socrates, abandoning inquiry would be a greater harm than death itself.

About the author

Socrates was an Athenian philosopher of the fifth century BC who is widely regarded as one of the founding figures of Western philosophy. He wrote nothing himself, and nearly everything known about his thought comes through the dialogues of his student Plato. He was known for his method of questioning, often called the Socratic method, which involved drawing out contradictions in a person's thinking to arrive at deeper understanding. He was sentenced to death by an Athenian jury and died by drinking hemlock.