Socrates is remembered for saying "the unexamined life is not worth living." Does this relate to his decision to drink the hemlock and die as a capital criminal?
by 
Moonwalker_II
ANSWERS: 6
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Maybe, though that adage is inherently flawed. It at least hints at his vanity, for he believes the way he lived was the best way.
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He could also have escaped as a coward and traitor to Athenian law, which would have been counter to his principles... His death was not because he perceived life not to be worth living (this seems to be what your question implies?) but because he believed that other principles had truer value than the extension of his life.
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No. He suicided rather than renounce his philosophy.
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I think that for Socrates he knew who he was..."Know thyself..." said Plato---or whoever. Socrates knew what he didn't know or was aware of things hidden that he didn't know. He professed ignorance...a good thing for a man in his position. Because Socrates knew what he knew about himself he was ready to face death with his integrity intact rather than wimp out in front of he accusers. He even goaded them--- after being faund guilty of charges that were patently false---to just fine him a paltry amount which in turn made the judges vote for his ultimate penalty.
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No, I don't think it had anything to do with his death which was not by choice but was in fact an execution by forced suicide. As a philosopher, Socrates must have spent a lot of time examining life. I therefore do not think that he thought his life was unexamined or not worth living.
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Socrates died the way he did to prove a point and for truth, he did what jesus did only 500years earlier, he proved that people dont like be examined, he had of other peoples arogance, because they were not aware of thier own ignorance.
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