48.根据以下材料,回答52-55题
Socrates is often referred to as one ofthe founders of Western philosophy, and yet he wrote nothing, established noschool, and held no particular theories of his own. What he did do, however,wasfrequently ask the questions that interested him, and in doing so developed a new way of thinking.This method proceeds(展开) as a dialogue between opposing views, and it earned him manyenemies in Athens, where he lived.
As a young man, Socrates is believed tohave studied natural philosophy, looking at the various explanations of thenature of the universe, but then became involved in the politics of thecity-state and concerned with more down-to-earth moral issues, such as thenature of justice.
However, he was not interested in winningarguments, or arguing for the sake of making money.
Nor was he seeking answers or explanations.He was simply examining the basis of the concepts we apply to ourselves ( suchas "good", "bad", and "just"), for he believedthat understanding what we are is the first task of philosophy.
He was sentenced to death on charges ofcorrupting the young with bad ideas. But he also had many followers, and amongthem was Plato, who recorded Socrates' ideas in the written works, called dialogues,in which Socrates sets about examining various ideas.Socrates' central concern,then, was the examination of life, and it was his cruel questioning of people'smost valued beliefs ( largely about themselves) that earned him hisenemies--but he remained committed to his task until the very end. According tothe account of his defense at his trial, Socrates
chose death rather than face a life ofignorance: "The life which is unexamined is not worth living. "
What is the most important task ofphilosophy according to Socrates