Philosophy SO1

2 December 2011

Socrates: Ironically wiser than all

Toward the beginning of the Apology, Socrates states that he has gained his

reputation by "a sort of wisdom" that he calls "human wisdom." And, indeed, the text

does state in several places that he is reputed to be a "wise man" who has knowledge of

things that other people do not. But this seems to be odd, given his insistence through out

the dialogue that he knows nothing. This apparent contradiction can be resolved,

however, by establishing that Socrates is really being ironic here, and that his phrase

"human wisdom" really means the ability to recognize and admit one's own ignorance

about things that one does not know. I will show how Socrates uses this through out the

Apology.

Socrates cannot explain why people have labeled him the wisest men around. In

the beginnig of his Apology Socrates tells his audience that he will embark on the

challnge of discovering the origin of his label, and he says:

“Men of Athens, this reputation of mine has come of a certain sort of wisdom.

What kind of wisdom? It is perhaps such wisdom as could be called human

wisdom, for that extent I am inclined to believe that I may be wise; whereas the

persons of whom I was just speaking seem to have a sort of superhuman wisdom,

for I don’t know how else to describe it, because I do not have it myself, and

whoever says that I do speaks falsely and is attacking my character.” (8)

Socrates explains to his audience that he is in no way, shape, or form affiliated with

neither Sophists or Sophism. Yet he has developed a reputation for being wise, a “human

wisdom” and not a “superhuman wisdom” which would allow him to speak with most

certainty. Socrates admits that he is wise, but his wisdom is limited to an ordinary type of

wisdom and therefore has really no true power or assertive authority like the one that the

oracle had described to his friend Chaerephon. So far Socrates had not proved that

“human wisdom” is one's ability to recognize one's ignorance on a matter. Either way this

is very important, because the ironic contradiction begins to unfold. He knows that he is

ignorant therefore he cannot possibly contain any supernatural wisdom.

In the first few pages, after explaing Chaerephon's story in the Oracla at Delphi he

decides to put the oracles answer to the test. After examinig a “wise statesman” he

concludes:

“Well, although I do not suppose that either of us knows anything really fine or

good, I am wiser than he is-for he knows nothing and thinks that he knows

something, whereas I neither know anything nor think that I know. In this latter

particular, then, I seem to slightly wiser than he is.” (10)

As he embarks on his journey to find a man wiser than him, he stops and visits a

statetsman. After his visit he learns that niether the statesman nor he know anything “fine

or good”, thus he depicts that he is ignorant and not wise. Socrates goes on to say that the

statesman believed he knew something when he truely did not. Socrates admitted he

knew nothing, therefore admitting his ignorance made him wiser than the statesman. This

is where he begins to prove his “human wisdom”, because he recognizes that he is

ignorant and either way he is wiser than the statesman. By simply stating tha he knows

nothing or is ignorant about something makes him wiser than a man who believes he

knows something, but ironically has no true knowledge.

A little later in the text Socrates finds a group of poets. He then decides to

examine them too like he did with the statesman. After examing the poets he determined:

“The Poets appeared to me to be much in the same situation; and I further

observed that upon the strength of their poetry they believed themselves to be the

wisest of men in other things in which they were not wise. So I departed

conceiving myself to be superior to them for the same reason that I was superior

to the politicians.” (11)

Socrates finds the poets to be in the same situation as the statesman. Their knowledge in

poetry made them think that they were the wisest of men on other matters as well. So he

left convinced that he was wiser than them for the same reason he was wiser than the

statesman. Just like the statesman the poets believed they were wise when in reality they

weren't. Although they were knowledgable in poetry, their belief that they were wiser in

other things meant they were not wiser than Socrates. Since Socrates admitted his

ignorance and the poets did not, Socrates was wiser than them. Once again he uses his

“human wisdom” to deny knowing anything, but still being wiser because of it.

Shortly after he finaly visited the craftsman. He knew the craftsmen knew

something, but after his examination he said:

“But I observed that even the good artisans fell into the same error as the poets;

because they were good workmen they thought that they also knew all sorts of

high matters, and this defect in them overshadowed their wisdom. Therefore I

asked myself on behalf of the oracle whether I would like to be as I was, neither

having their knowledge nor their ignorance, or like them in both knowledge and

ignorance, and I answered to myself and the oracle that I was better off as I was.”

(12)

The craftsmen fell into the same category as the poets. Their knowledge was polluted by

the idea that they knew a lot of things. Although they were great at their craft, they did

not know things of high matter, but believed they did. He then asks himslelf whether he is

better of being and admitting he was ignorant, or have their knowlegde and igorance. He

deciedes he is better off as he is. Even though they have knowlegde in their craft, their

notion of knowing higher matters makes them ignorant. Therefore Socrates decides he is

better off admitting his ignorant, because it still makes him wiser than the craftsmen.

Once again he shows that he knows nothing but is still wiser than those he has examined.

This again proves how his “human wisdom” makes him wiser, even though he knows

nothing. His point is not to make himslef seem wise, but to reiterate that he is ignorant.

Only someone with “human wisdom would admit his ignorance.

At this point he is closing his argument agaisnt his first accusers, before moving

on to the next accusers, and says:

“This investigation has led to my having many enemies of the worst and most

dangerous kind and has given occasion also to many slanders, and I am called

‘wise’, for my hearers always imagine that I myself possess the wisdom that I find

wanting in others. But the truth, Men of Athens, is most likely that only the god is

wise. And in this oracle he means to say that the wisdom of men is of little or no

value [compared to that of the gods]” (13).

Investigating the Oracles assertion, whether he was the wisest man or not, had made him

a lot of enemies. Enemies not only of the worst, but the most dangerous kind that call him

wise. They think that Socrates has the wisdom that he seeks from others. The truth is that

only god is wise. The Oracle meant to say that the wisdom of men has no value compared

to the wisdom of the divine. Socrates is being ironic, because he says he has no wisdom,

but he goes around finding ignorance in himself and in others, which is his wisdom.

Socrates wants his audience to see his ignorance as well as theirs. While at the same time

pointing out that the wisdom of men is nothing compared to the wisdom of the gods.

There fore “human wisdom” is recognizing that one is ignorant to what one does not

know, because only god is truely wise.