Welcome to Week #2. This week we'll be learning about Socrates and the philosophical life. For Socrates, a "life well-lived," the Good Life, is the philosophical life. But what did he mean by that?

Socrates pursued the Good Life through a practice his student, Plato, called "Elenchus. " What does that mean? Literally, it's the word for examination. You've probably come across that famous line before: "The Unexamined Life is not worth living." That line comes from one of this week's readings, a dialogue written by his student, Plato. Socrates is claiming that only a life of examination is worth living. But, as Plato hints during his dialogue, Socrates was not referring to just any examination. He was promoting philosophical examination.

More precisely, Socrates was promoting the examination of "the virtues." By virtues, though, they don't mean anything like being pure or innocent or chaste. Those are puritanical and Victorian uses of the word virtue that had nothing to do with the ancient Greeks. The Greeks thought about the virtues as "human excellences." To be virtuous is to live well, to realize one's potential as a human, to excel as a human. Socrates is calling on us to examine that. That's the type of examination he promoted.

At the start of Plato's dialogue, Socrates warns his jury about a play that misportrays him. It was called The Clouds. It had been around for 20 years by the time Socrates was put on trial. That's why he warns the jury about it. He realizes that many of them think they know him from that play, but he insists it's not accurate. Here's what's at stake. During the time of Socrates, there was a group of people who called themselves Sophists. It's quite a name to give oneself, since it means Wise. They claimed to be wise, and would charge money to teach the youth of Athens. Only, according to Socrates and Plato, these Sophists were not philosophers. For they did not value elenchus. They promoted rhetoric. This is an important distinction. Socrates and Plato cared about more than persuaded a lot of people to believe something or do something: in essence, to be popular. Rather, Socrates and Plato cared about elenchus, examining the virtues, and actually trying to understand the nature of virtue. Philosophers are not Sophists.

Indeed, if one cares only about persuading people, one would be willing to rely on rhetorical tricks, gimmicks that don't actually address the issue, but may trick an audience into agreeing with you. Throughout his trial, Socrates repeatedly warns the jury that he will not do this. Indeed, he realizes that they have come to expect this, and that they are likely to convict him unless he employs such sophistry. But he would rather die than live like that. For the unexamined life is not worth living.

Buried in Socrates' speeches are themes that will get picked up by later thinkers. This week's quiz highlights many of them. I will make comments about some of them. But, first and foremost, always remember that, for Socrates, the Good Life is the philosophical life, a life dedicated to examining the virtues, and doing it in a way that avoids sophistry.