Socrates Argument Of Wisdom - 1673 Words

Life is full of contradictions, weather it is a situation where one person is happy but their friend is not or by meeting a good politician they are there. Contradictions are littered throughout life but are most usually sought out during lies and courtroom appearances. Contradictions are the way one discredits a defense or the way one undermines an argument, and sometimes they just bring things into question. A specific situation is Socrates’ defense in The Apology. One could assume that the gentlemen of the law were closely examining and judging Socrates’ words and statements, but possibly more than the gentlemen, philosophers examine Socrates’ words through the text. Many thinkers have found great and small contradictions throughout, one concerning Socrates’ statements of wisdom. In The Apology Socrates states that he has no claim to wisdom, yet he appears to have human wisdom. Wisdom is a very abstract term for a great deal of people and for the purpos e of this paper it is important to turn to Socrates himself to understand. There a few passages which can be referred to obtain a define idea of what wisdom is to Socrates. In passage 21d Socrates describes a resulting thought about wisdom on his journey to prove that he is not wise, â€Å"Well, I am certainly wiser than this man. It is only too likely that neither of us has any knowledge to boast of, but he thinks that he knows something which he does not know, whereas I am quite conscious of my ignorance. At any rate it seemsShow MoreRelatedThe Apology by Socrates1099 Words   |  4 PagesApology, in Socrates day, stood for defense rather than seeking forgiveness, as it is now commonly used. To Socrates, it did not matter to him whether or not he was persecuted, as long as he did what was correct. Socrates whole philosophy is that to know knowledge is to have wisdom, and to have wisdom is to know oneself. 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