The Truth About Wisdom (And Ignorance)

Hello.

We are now reading a part of “The Apology” by Plato. In this piece, Socrates tries to convince the jury that he is innocent, and, moreover, that all of the claims against him are utterly false.

The line that struck me most, though it has little to do with the trial that we plan to host, was on page 44, section 21d. Here, Socrates says, “It is only too likely that neither of us have any knowledge to boast of; but he thinks that he knows something that he does not know, whereas I am quite conscious of my ignorance.” First, allow me to explain what I think Socrates means by this.

He is talking about a man that he interviewed in his quest to find other men wiser than he in Athens, or, for that matter, in the whole world. I too am coming to think that there are none. The man that he interviewed was a politician, I believe. Socrates claims that neither of them have any real knowledge, for what is the knowledge of men compared to the immortal knowledge of the gods? But the man, the politician, BELIVED that he knew far more than he did, whereas Socrates knows that he knows nothing.

This is what I have learned from this, and what I have written in all caps in the margin: TRUE WISDOM IS THE AKNOWLDGEMENT OF IGNORANCE. I’m sure that’s a quote from somewhere, I can't be the one that thought of that first. I think what this means is that the second that you realize that you really do know nothing, you have learned the most important piece of knowledge: there is more to know. Socrates believes that neither the men who know little but think they know much, or those that know much but think they know little are truly wise. And worse, I think he believes, are those who believe they know all and in reality know nothing.

What does this have to do with the trial? Nothing. Just something interesting I learned along the way.

Goodbye.