Western Carolina University Socratic Reflection Essay

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This first Socratic Reflection Essay will require you to examine your own life in the way that Socrates asks the citizens of Athens to do. Recall that Socrates thought he was fulfilling a crucial function in the city: encouraging the citizens to think carefully about their own lives and choices. Indeed, he goes so far as to claim (in Plato’s Apology) that “the unexamined life is not worth living” for a human being. In any case, this assignment asks you to consider whether you have been living an “examined life” – at least with respect to some of the biggest decisions in your life.

Reflect carefully on what led you to choose your particular vocation or major, or your co-curricular experiences with student organizations, or the kind of people you associate with, or the activities you engage in outside of class, and then answer the following questions in an organized and unified essay (not 1, 2, 3…). Be specific and concrete.

Were your decisions at all reflective? (Did you think about them at all before you made them?)

Were they rational? (Did you have good reasons for them?)

Were they virtuous? (Did you consider whether it was morally good to act in that way? Was it?)

Most importantly: At the end of the day, what do these decisions say about the person you have chosen (or allowed yourself) to become at this point in your life? (To give yourself some context, you might ask yourself: how would you evaluate someone else who made the decisions you have, in the ways you have?)

Do not try to answer all four questions about each one of your choices and decisions (vocation, major, associates, activities, etc.)! Rather, limit yourself to analyzing whether just one or two of those choices (vocation, major, co-curriculars, activities, associates) have been reflective, rational, and virtuous, and what those choices say about you and your life.

The essay should be double-spaced, a minimum of 1000 words and a maximum of 1400 words: use the “word count” function of your word processor and do not submit something that fails to meet the word count threshold. The minimum word count is intended to make sure that you go into sufficient detail; the maximum to make sure that you are not rambling.

I am interested in seeing an essay that demonstrates that you have reflected thoughtfully on your own life and decision processes for this assignment, regardless of whether you have done so in the past. Superior essays will go significantly above and beyond an ordinary level of competence, demonstrating careful thought, excellent stylistics and grammar, concrete examples from your own life, and an unflinching assessment of yourself.

Finally, let me reiterate one last time: be honest, concrete and specific here. There’s no use engaging in this kind of Socratic exercise if you are going to deal only in vague generalities or lie to yourself. This is your life and your decisions that you’re dealing with, so spend some serious time thinking about them before you start writing. If you’re not comfortable discussing a particular decision in this level of detail, then find another one you are comfortable discussing. Please also remember that if you report to me a potential crime (in discussion or written assignments), or I have a serious concern about your (or someone else’s) well-being, I generally have a legal (& arguably ethical) obligation to report that to campus authorities. I remind you of this so you can make an informed decision about what to discuss here.

Oftentimes students want to know how their papers will be evaluated. Attached below you will find a worksheet that will guide you through the way I grade these reflection papers. I suggest you ask a friend from the class, a WaLC tutor, or someone else to go over your paper with you rigorously, and let you know honestly where you are succeeding and where you are falling short. If you do have someone do this for you, please turn in to me a hard (printed) copy of your rough draft and their evaluation of it the day the essay is due, so I can see what kind of advice you got from them.