Socratic Wisdom

Socratic Wisdom

Socratic wisdom can be defined as “knowing that you know nothing,” and it is not worth having. Such wisdom is more of a burden than a blessing. Socrates is known as one of the founders on Western Philosophy, the only knowledge we have of him, however, is through other people’s accounts. His method of acquiring knowledge became known as the “Socratic Method,” and was described to us by Plato in the Socratic Dialogues. This dialectic technique to understanding key moral notions is divided into a series of questions, in which the answers develop off of one-another gradually until you eventually find the answer you have been looking for. A method such as this requires a tremendous amount of patience, as obtaining truth and justice through continuous questioning could last days, months, and potentially even years! This is the key to Socrates’ wisdom; having the patience, discipline, and courage to continue asking questions, even if the area of focus seems too in depth or hard to contemplate. Wisdom such as this simply did not, and does not carry enough value to compensate for all the troubles it produces.
Having wisdom by Socrates’ standards is more of a negative than a positive. Constantly showing people up, disproving their beliefs, belittling their knowledge, and frustrating people to the point where you are on trial and sentenced to death is not the manner in which I would utilize my intelligence. It is great to be knowledgeable and wise but there is no need to carry such a subtle arrogance all the time, such arrogance will only aggravate and anger the subjects you are trying to enlighten. When you repeat this process and go through life practicing the Socratic Method every time you seek truth and justice, it will only go wrong in the end. If I were to go around to each of my family members and harass them about their motives for every decision made, that would naturally cause a division in my family. My brother, sister, and...