There has been something of a time gap since my last posting. Nevertheless I am returning to the thoughts of Socrates (469 B.C – 399 B.C.) whose insights are as relevant today as they were in ancient Greece.
In relation to knowledge Socrates believed in two principle types of knowledge: ‘important’ and ‘trivial’ and concluded that most of us know many trival things. (Not much as changed in the last 2500 years then.) Although he allowed that the craftsman possesses important knowledge, that is the practice of his craft, however, this was generally important to himself as a craftsman. For Socrates the most important of all knowledge is: “How best to live.”
For the philosopher the goals of education are: “to know what you can”, and even more importantly: “to know what you do not know.”
The question for Socrates was to ask: “What is knowledge? And for him there are two very different kinds. One is what he called ‘ordinary’ knowledge. Such knowledge concerns very specific (and ordinary) information. According to Socrates such knowledge does not give us any real expertise or wisdom worth mentioning. Instead, what is important in relation to knowledge is in our attempts in defining the words and concepts we use.
For Socrates true knowledge can only be found in our search for goodness and truth and in our willingness to live that way. Again, for him evil results from man’s ignorance of goodness and truth that prevents him from being wise and honest.
It is a pity that all too few politicians, bankers, and leaders in all walks of life have bothered to read Socrates, even fewer to heed his words.