Compare and Contrast Nozick and Socrates Essay

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Value & Meaning



There are some concepts and ideas that are pretty clear-cut and easy to discuss. This is often because the concepts at hand are definite, at least fairly black and white and so forth. However, there are other things that are a bit more abstract and nebulous. Beyond that, there are concepts that are subject to disagreement and rancor when they are discussed. Certain pieces of art and the value (or lack thereof) is a good example. Another example is the definition of value and meaning in one's life. Socrates was quite famous for his treatises on the subject and Robert Nozick certainly took up that mantle during his time. While Mr. Nozick certainly added a great perspective and prism to the value and meaning paradigm, to suggest that he (or even Socrates) are the final word on the subject is less than accurate.

Nozick



The focal point of the research and analysis in this report that relates to Nozick is found in the chapters relating to knowing and meaning (Nozick 162). Nozick's banter on the subject starts with a rather peculiar proclamation, that being "the notion of value is not simply some vague laudatory term". It is peculiar because some may argue that while value is a real and present concept, it is something that is not defined the same way to all people. Even so, his words about things having a basic value and/or an intrinsic value is pretty spot-on. Nozick does seem to assuage people that might disagree by stating that nature, for example, has a natural order of things, ranging from the rocks to the plants and beyond (Nozick 163). Nozick also explains that there is the concept of unity in diversity. That as well is by no means uniform because some people (including many scientists) seem to be less than willing to be open to other ideas and suggestions out of fear, it would seem, that the concept or idea is supposedly "settled" or that no further debate is needed, for whatever reason. Beyond the above, Nozick wisely invokes the words of Descartes, who was noted as speaking about the difference between mind and matter and how they are not remotely the same thing. Nozick concurs with this line of thought but also insists that the two are inextricably linked and thus they generally cannot be considered separately (Nozick 165).



Nozick explains a bit more and then says that something has intrinsic value when it is "organically unified" and that said unity is its value (Nozick 164). Nozick later notes that meaning and value are strongly linked and that they can "interweave over time" (Nozick 168). At the same time, Nozick says at the end of the value and meaning chapter that value and notion also tend to be rather broad and expansive in meaning or scope. Nozick asks himself and others in his text whether value and meaning, by themselves, could or should be the "end all" when it comes to assessing one's self, one's life, one's works and one's relations with other people (Nozick 169). This provides a nice segue into Nozick's next topic, that being importance and weight in the sixteenth chapter. His use of chess in terms of the abstract and visible ideas and manifestations that can be seen in that game is illuminating (Nozick 170). Just as value and meaning are linked together, Nozick does the same with importance and weight.

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This would seem to be prescient because value and meaning have to be further defined and given context by the importance and weight that a person places on an idea, a practice or a detail. After all, some people are scared of thunderstorms while others love them. Importance may be high for both but the weight, value and meaning can all vary quite a bit (Nozick 171). Nozick weaves together the four ideas and concepts discussed in this report on the bottom of page 179. He forms a matrix that has four fields, arranged in a two by two table. From left to right and from top to bottom, there is value, meaning, weight and importance (Nozick 179). Nozick was apparently not content to leave value and meaning as the only two lenses and considerations, and he is surely wise to do so because leaving a static or singular definition of value and meaning would not be workable (Nozick 181).

Socrates



Nozick was clearly a person who derived what he felt and thought from Socrates, at least in part. Indeed, Socrates himself had a treatise that was called Apology: The Examined Life. Within the work that seemingly provided the namesake of Socrates and his work, much of the same themes are there as are within the work of Nozick, but the overall perspective and ideology in play is clearly different. Indeed, concepts that Socrates focused on within the work noted include ironic modesty, questioning habit, devotion to truth and dispassionate reason. Rather than keep things rather high level and overview-like in nature, Nozick himself was clearly exercising the last of those. Dispassionate reason seemed to be something that Nozick was clearly focused on. This is a clear departure from the wider scope of what Socrates had to say and perhaps Socrates had a better idea of how to use value, meaning, weighting and importance even if he didn't always use those words. Rather than keep things vague, Socrates was clearly asserting that modesty, using logic and reason and so forth were cornerstones of assessing things like meanings in life (Kemerling).



Socrates himself was jailed and persecuted for what he had to say and this nonetheless did not sway him from his modus operandi. Even after he was convicted, Socrates clearly refused to abandon what he held to be true and right. It is obvious that Socrates clearly put a lot of weight on his integrity, his core values and the meaning of his life and what was happening within the same. Many people in that same position have and would abandon their values and convictions if it meant saving their proverbial skin. Socrates, on that other hand, would not do so even when it became clear he would die via execution for his perceived sins. Of course, the plight faced by Socrates….....

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Works Cited

Kemerling, Garth. "Socrates: Philosophical Life." Philosophypages.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.

Lander. "The Ethics Of Socrates." philosophy.lander.edu. N.p., 2017. Web. 27 Apr. 2017.

Nozick, Robert. The Examined Life. 1st ed. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 1990. Print.

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