FREE ESSAY ON SEEKING TRUE WISDOM

SEEKING TRUE WISDOM

Seeking True Wisdom
Ignorance is a lack of knowledge and unawareness of the happenings of the world. Socrates
believes that knowledge does not consist merely of factual details but also deals with
self-understanding and justice. "The Apology," written by Plato, describes the defense
Socrates gives at his trial in Athens. Socrates is giving his defense against charges of
not believing in the gods and corrupting the youth. During his defense, Socrates
expresses that he does not possess wisdom. By stating this, Socrates had a claim of
ignorance in which he stated that he knew he knew nothing. This statement actually serves
as a clear display that Socrates did possess some wisdom; he was not a genius, however,
he recognized his lack of knowledge and tried to help others realize that their knowledge
was not complete. 
In society today, people have a tendency to think that they know everything and cannot be
wrong. However, this is obviously false because people overestimate their knowledge while
underestimating the knowledge of others. Socrates realizes that he does not know
everything and states, "Certainly I would pride and preen myself if I had this knowledge,
but I do not have it, gentlemen (Apology, 20c)." Realizing that he was not all knowing
and that it is impossible to know everything about every subject was the first step to
gaining real knowledge. 
Socrates' claim of ignorance is valid because he does possess some knowledge, just not
all that is possible. When Socrates went around questioning politicians, poets, and
craftsmen, he was able to conclude that they all thought they knew a lot but truly did
not; this showed their lack of true knowledge. Socrates was different from these people
because he discovered that he did not really know anything. This is evident when he
quotes the oracle in saying, "This man among you, mortals, is wisest who, like Socrates,
understands that his wisdom is worthless (Apology, 23b)." Socrates realized that what he
knew did not have real value. This is true because he believes that knowledge is deeper
than facts and goes into knowing the best way to live life, which he did not claim to
know.
Negative and positive consequences can arise from Socrates' claim of ignorance for his
method of questioning. Socrates' method of inquiry consisted of questioning people who
had the pretense of knowledge. He questioned them on the positions they affirmed and
worked them through various questions into a contradiction that would then prove their
original beliefs wrong. The person proven wrong would then either accept that they did
not really know anything about what they were talking about or they would resist facing a
lack of knowledge and disbelieve Socrates. This method of questioning is called dialectic
and seeks to find truth. While convincing his listeners that he knows nothing, he also
may make himself a less credible source to adhere to because he states that he lacks
knowledge. The listeners may therefore listen warily and not indisputably believe his
claims. A lack of knowledge by the questioner however can prove to be beneficial because
if an unwise person is able to prove someone wrong, it shows how little the other person
knew to begin with. Socrates, unlike the pretentious citizens who were offended by his
lines of questioning, did not pretend to have the answers; he did not pretend to know
what is best. He shows his self doubt in his range of wisdom when he states, "Human
wisdom, perhaps. It may be that I really possess this, while those whom I mentioned just
now are wise with a wisdom more than human; else I cannot explain it, for I certainly do
not possess it (Apology, 20e)." Socrates believed that there is a best standard for human
conduct and political rule; but he did not claim to possess that standard. He viewed
himself as a seeker of the truth.
Some would say that Socrates' knowledge that he knew nothing, shows that he actually knew
everything. He claimed that he did not possess true wisdom which he believed was
self-knowledge. To Socrates, self-knowledge is different from knowledge of information.
Those who believe Socrates was all-knowing, should realize that Socrates did not possess
what he felt was true wisdom. Socrates had knowledge of information, but he claimed to
not have self-knowledge. Socrates did know some things and have some self-knowledge
because he recognized that knowledge of information as not true wisdom, however, he still
stressed that he did not know everything. Not only must one know what it means to be a
human being in the best sense and understand one's own character, but to know better
means to do better. One can know many things and still not know how to live well and how
to be just. 
The claim of ignorance as beneficial and positive may be disputed with the argument that
Socrates still ended up with the death penalty. Despite receiving the death penalty
Socrates held no scorn, "You too must be of good hope as regards death, gentlemen of the
jury, and keep this one truth in mind, and that his affairs are not neglected by the gods
(Apology, 41d)." Even in his death, he still attempted to project a message that would
cause people to live a better life. 
Others may believe that Socrates did have true knowledge and hid it to teach others. This
is a reasonable thought because Socrates did want to teach others to search for wisdom.
However, Socrates himself was constantly on a search for what is justice and how to live
because he believed that, "...the unexamined life is not worth living for man (Apology,
38a)." He did not have a complete understanding of this knowledge, but by questioning
others he stirred them to search for true wisdom. No human actually knows the proper way
to live and only hopes that they will find insights that can help them to discover the
meaning of justice. 
In the "Meno," Socrates introduces his doctrine of learning as recollection. This
doctrine states that the soul is immortal and goes through reincarnations. When the soul
is outside the body, the soul has seen everything. This doctrine relates to Socrates'
belief of learning by association. This states that one must search for the things one
does not know. Socrates believes that true learning involves recollection, so a good
teacher does not hand over information. He stressed that teaching is pointing someone in
the right direction and asking the right questions. He still affirmed that he did not
possess knowledge, and stated "...I am so far from knowing whether virtue can be taught
or not that I do not even have any knowledge of what virtue itself is" (Meno, 71a).
Socrates used this method to help others find self-understanding because this was the
only method he believed would help people to discover true wisdom.
Socrates' claim of ignorance displays a deep wisdom that cannot be achieved by many
humans. Socrates recognized that the earthly knowledge that he had was not important and
held no value. From this he made the statement that he knew he knew nothing. This
statement is justly constructed because for Socrates the only real knowledge was that of
self-understanding and justice, which he did not have complete understanding of. Most
humans believe that they possess real knowledge, however, it is necessary to realize that
this knowledge is not complete and they must continuously seek truth. 
Bibliography
Plato's Apology