Claim · Seed idea · last reconsidered September 8, 2026

Knowing that you do not know

Socrates' reputation for wisdom rests on a negative result, not a stock of answers.

Territories
Knowing

Whatever wisdom Socrates has consists in not supposing he knows what he does not know. The examined position is not the one with the best answer but the one that has survived being asked.

SocratesClassical Greek philosophyc. 399 BCE

Connected ideas

derived from

  • ApologySource

    Plato's account of the trial is where the claim is stated.

related to

  • JudgmentConcept

    Examining a claim is the exercise of judgment, not its replacement.

responds to