Socrates Case

I. Socrates definition of wisdom was defined as knowing that you know nothing, and it is not worth having. Socrates thought of wisdom as more of a burden instead of a blessing. Socrates is known as one of the creators of Western Philosophy. His way of gaining knowledge became known as the Socratic Method, and was explained to us by Plato in Socratic Dialogues. This technique to understanding key moral notions is divided into a series of questions, which the answers develop off of one another step by step until you eventually find the answer you have been looking for. A method like this involves a lot 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 topic seems too in depth or hard to question. Wisdom such as this did not, and does not carry enough value to compensate for all the troubles it produces. Having wisdom by Socrates' opinion was more of a negative than a positive. Constantly showing people up, disproving their beliefs, underestimating 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, arrogance will only aggravate and anger the people you are trying to inform.

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. Ultimately, Socrates earned a bad reputation because his behavior exposed the men's ignorance. In spite of his conviction that his fellow Athenians were ignorant, Socrates did not see himself as the owner of the knowledge that others did not have. In his mind, his only wisdom lay in the fact that he understood that he didn't know everything while they, even though uninformed, thought that they were wise. At the center of Socratic irony, though, was not just Socrates' liveliness, but a serious certainty that instruction was not, as in the manner of the Sophists, just giving out of information by the teacher to the student.