Questioning

It’s interesting to me that Socrates mentioned “the natives” as if he was not one. As Dr. Mitchell mentioned in class, the statement made him seem less than patriotic? Now, let’s think. Don’t we frown upon people like Socrates in our society? We see people who question our standards, and systems and rituals and think of them as, “one of them,” or “weird.” The question we should pose, however is, what can questioning do to harm or hurt us? Is it wrong to question? Are those who question actually the foolish ones, like society labels them? Should we look down on people because they question our opinions, even our strong opinions? Admitting that those who question, may be right, and I may be wrong is strange to me. Aren’t they the rebellious ones? Aren’t we supposed to do as we were taught? This is an uncomfortable subject for me, after all I’m a UM student.

Another thing I noticed was how Justice is somehow tied to questioning. I’m not talking about questioning in the court. As we see in Plato, questioning can affect our perception of Justice. For example, some would argue that questioning produces great good. Socrates questioned, and by his questioning formed a system of government that America largely reflects. This is just one example. However, some would say that sometimes questioning leads to great evil. Motives are formed, doors are opened, and bad things happen when weak perceptions of things like Justice take control of a body of people. One can think of the French Revolution as an example. They argue that men who questioned brought great evil into the world. They created, in a sense, machines of injustice, by their ideas. Having said all I have said, how do we reconcile this in our minds and conscience? I’m not sure. Justice is tied to questioning, and vice-versa. Questioning may change our perception of Justice (as we see in Plato’s Republic). Questioning can change policy in Justice. Questioning can literally affect systems of government and Justice, or even all three. We see this mirrored in history, literature and today in our America. This is something to think about. It’s something to question. Maybe questions are more important than we thought?

P.S. I commented on Rachel's post