Leobelo Jofel Delicana July

4, 2012
AB Philosophy 3
Philo 313

Everyday Socrates
The truth will set you free. People are, and would always be demanding truth. This
statement proves how very idealistic truth is. It is somehow impossible to follow faithfully and
without any blemish. owever, an irony still remains that, The truth hurts. ere is a very
intriguing !uestion on my part" #hy would one demand truth when most of us, if not all, $now
that it would hurt% It all boils down to one implication, Truth cannot please everyone.
&or a person, this may be the truth. &or another person, he may have his own version of
truth. Philosopher 'ertrand (ussel would say that we should beware of half truths because we
could be on grasp of the half lies. )bviously, truth must be viewed as truth entirely, not only by
part. It must not have any trace of pre*udice or self interest. Though it is hard to attain, truth must
show itself as the very truth. Truth is truth and will always be.
+ow, I would li$e to add the taste of the truth that Socrates fought for. &ighting for truth
has many conse!uences. This ,is the part that affects me most. #hen we spea$ of truth, not
everyone is happy that we are being truthful. There can be many reasons why others don-t want
to hear or $now the truth. )bviously, this may be due to personal interests or self preservation.
Socrates, arguably the wisest man of his time, e.perienced persecution for the sa$e of truth. /ll
persons are also sub*ect to this $ind of persecution. 0ay it be from the poorest and least popular
person to the leaders of community and fame1 no one is e.empted from the conse!uences of
bringing truth.
In my point of view, truth is very idealistic. &or me, what we need is practical truth, one
that is more applicable in the community. Still, this is not to disregard truth in its very sense.
#hat I mean to say is that, we could live the truth in our own simple ways. #e could show that
we embrace truth by applying it in our everyday lives. There is no need for an e.traordinary
situation such as being a witness in a crime in order for an individual to become a person of
truth.
The very point is that, as we live our everyday lives and as we play our own roles and
obligations in our community, we could bring about the truth. #e could simply be doing our best
in our trade. This way, we do not suppress the truth. This truth is present deep within us. 'y this
we do not lie to ourselves. /lso, we could un$nowingly be truthful towards our fellowmen. #e
must not complicate truth. #hat is worse is that we tend to act blind in perceiving it. &or me, I do
believe that truth is always in our midst though we sometimes fail to see it.
'ac$ to the time of Socrates, he directed his life up to its end in pursuing the truth. e
believed that this was the will of god 2pertaining to the one that Socrates believed in3. e lived
up to his mission. e inculcated it in his life. This shows how important truth is though it is hard
see$.
Truth is really liberating. Socrates said" /bove all, I shall then be able to continue my
search into true and false $nowledge1 as in this world, and also the ne.t... This is a famous
saying that consoles and inspires every living person to be *ust and truthful. This is the line of
Socrates about truth that I love the most. If we learn to embrace the truth, it somehow sei4es to
become elusive. I would ta$e as an e.ample the case of 5hief 6ustice (enato 5orona. #e $now
that at least in our country, he is one of the authorities when it comes to law and *ustice.
owever, he himself blemished truth by not revealing it. e manifested the bad side of $nowing
the flaws of law when he presented only a part of his financial statement of properties and net
worth. )f course, the senate as a ruling body of law protectors pursued the 56-s issue $nowing
that truth was not revealed. It then resulted to the end of the 56-s term as 5hief 6ustice of the
Philippines. This was all because truth was really searched. /t least for me, a young citi4en, I
could say that because they did not sei4e to search the truth, their efforts were paid. Truth ceased
to be elusive. /gain, this is because they embraced the truth with its positive sense.
In contrast to the previous paragraph, there are times when we must not only accept truth.
#hy% &or an instance, here in 5otabato 5ity some inhabitants are somewhat unethical in some of
their actions. They litter anywhere. They urinate on the sidewal$. 7,rated 898 films are sold on
the sidewal$. +eedless to say, it is very scandali4ing.
/s a young citi4en living here in 5otabato, I could start reshaping and reforming this
negative truth by acting *ustly. I could lead truth towards betterment by simply not throwing my
candy wrapper anywhere. I must start actions with myself. Then, to encourage others to reshape
the truth would be the best follow,up.
/n individual-s grasp on truth must also strengthen and be refined as one matures.
E.perience is an essential part of this. /s one had lived with the truth, he must $now more of it.
This learning does not only pertain to the curriculum,based education. This pertains to the
totality of life and its unbounded possibilities. Plain words do reveal the truth. owever, it is li$e
a &ilipino surviving without eating rice at all. It may be good, but not enough and would not
suffice. The e.emplary way to bring about the truth is by both words and actions. /s a famous
saying goes, Practice what you preach.
)ur search for truth must be li$e the fact of drin$ing saltwater. The more we drin$ of it,
the more we become thirsty, the more we want to drin$ more. 0ay our present condition of
discomfort here in our country and most especially here in 5otabato 5ity, lead us to the better
understanding and pursuance of truth. 0ay each living individual be an everyday Socrates.