Socrates

Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the life of Socrates.

Central Idea: I plan on telling the audience what Philosophy is, who Socrates was, and the methods he used in teaching his philosophy.

INTRODUCTION

Attention Getter: "The unexamined life is not worth living." This is the most famous quote of the most popular philosopher of all time: Socrates.

Reveal Topic: I plan on telling you what philosophy is and how Socrates viewed philosophy.

Credibility: I am able to speak on this topic because I have taken a philosophy course, and I have done extensive research in to Socrates life.

Central Idea: I plan on telling the audience what philosophy is, who Socrates was, and tell the way he viewed philosophy in order to better understand his quote.

(Connective: First, lets talk about what philosophy is.)

BODY

I. Philosophy is a term with many meanings.

A. Philosophy is the process of thinking through every little question imaginable to try to come up with the most rational explanation or truth.

B. It is an attempt to describe "the ultimate and real nature of reality."

C. Philosophy also helps us to determine the limits of out knowledge by its source, value, nature and validity.

D. It is a continuous thought process searching for the underlying knowledge of all causes or things as they appear to us, finding out why a thing is what it is.

(Connective: Now let's learn a little about Socrates life.)

II. Socrates's Life

A. He grew up in Athens with little schooling.

B. He married late in life but did have 3 sons.

C. He was a political figure because of his wisdom, but never was interested in running for any type of public office.

D. He was a major figure during a war which is where he first gained his recognition.

E. He wrote none of his thoughts down. The information we have about him today comes from one of his students, his best, Plato. He recorded several of the dialogs he had with Socrates and put them in a book.

F. His main...

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...le he was in prison. They had actually devised an escape plan, and also a guard "forgot" to lock the door, but Socrates said he wanted to comply with the law and die for his reason, cause, and beliefs.

F. He said he didn't fear death because you can't fear anything you don't have any knowledge of.

CONCLUSION

Well, I hope everyone can come up with their own interpretation of why the unexamined life wasn't and isn't worth living. According to Socrates, we should be asking questions about everything we see, hear, or think we know. I interpret the quote as having to know yourself inside and out. You have to come up with your own beliefs and values, not the one's of anyone else. I believe to have a happy life, you have to examine and know every little aspect of your life. If your thoughts and beliefs aren't questioned by yourself over and over again, how will you know if they are your thoughts or the ones of others'? If you are living the values and beliefs of your best friend or a group of friends, the values are not your own, so therefor, your life is unexamined and why should you live a life that isn't yours?