Socrates’s line, that “the unexamined life is not worth living,” was addressed not to the philosophers’ trade union but to the citizens of Athens, and in that sense to all of us. “The philosophical raw material,” as the contemporary Thomas Nagel puts it, “comes directly from the world and our relation to it, not from writings of the past.”
Which is why the big questions keep popping up on their own: the “what’s it all about, Alfie” questions, the relation of mind to body and of spirit to mind, the nature of truth, the imperative of justice, the scope of freedom, the mystery of language, the meaning of it all.
Cornel West of Harvard teaches and lives the examined life: from boyhood he saw philosophy as a calling to observe wealth and social misery all around us, to study the interplay of hope, doubt, faith, suffering and joy in his own life, to make sense of the world. In wrap-up week 9 of our summer series, the philosophical life is our final subject.
(hosted by Christopher Lydon)
Guests:
Cornel West, Professor of Afro-American Studies and Philosophy of Religion at Harvard University
author of The Cornel West Reader