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Wisdom In Plato's Apology

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Fahad Khan Prof. Ian Moore Due date: 11/26/2014 In Plato’s Apology, according to the Oracle, at Delphi, Socrates was the wisest man of all people. Still in the content he claims, “In truth, [Socrates] worth nothing in regards to wisdom” (Apology). According to Plato's version, he constantly shows Socrates’ ignorance towards his own wisdom. Socrates does not know why he is the man of wisdom, but he knows that he carries those qualities. Socrates believes this knowledge is only possessed by the gods and humans have little or no worth to the wisdom we carry, in comparison to that of a god. In the Apology, he admits that he is the wisest man and goes on saying that others should also fall into his path of wisdom. He also makes clear that he is …show more content…

He might never be able to claim his wisdom towards morality but the subject matter of virtue, piety, justice and beauty still seem important to him and he believes that; these are the key factors that keep us sane. Even though, we won’t reach the complete knowledge of morality, we should still strive to examine because that is most beneficial and that is what shapes our beliefs. Socrates believes that we should always strive to know the “knowledge of the gods”, even though we might not achieve moral knowledge. He wants to know “how things stand” regarding the properties of morality and also claims “An unexamined life is not worth living.” …show more content…

(Euthyphro) Socrates is not satisfied with his answer because he provides the list of the properties and not the definition that Socrates wants to know. Socrates does not want examples of piety but wants the explanation of the nature of the property. If Euthyphro was to know that putting his father in jail was a pious act, according to socrates, Euthyphro should know the definition of that moral property. He should also be able to tell examples about that property. Then, Euthyphro should further explain accordingly to the features of the property. He replies to Euthyphro as follows, Socrates: Remember that I did not ask you to give me two or three examples of piety, but to explain the general idea which makes all pious things to be pious. Do you not recollect that there was one idea which made the impious impious, and the pious pious?

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