How Is Socrates Wise
Socrates describes his mission or occupation in life as a need to find a person who thinks that they are wise and if Socrates then does not fully think that that person is wise, then Socrates believes that with the help of God, he must show the person that they are not truly wise (23b). The reason for this is because a wise man will understand that their wisdom is worthless (23b). Socrates set out to do this mission because Chaerephon asked the oracle at the temple if there was anybody that was smarter than Socrates, the oracle gave the answer that there was nobody that was smarter than Socrates (21a). With this, Socrates wanted to discover the reasoning for this answer, for he did not believe that he was the wisest. Socrates went around to
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However, Socrates found similar evidence that some individuals not completely familiar with that job, could do it just as well as the craftsman (22d-e). Due to this reasoning, an individual who knows very much about something can often become blind to the idea that other people could also be wise toward the same thing. Thus, the poetry writer and the craftsman became confident to the idea that they knew their job better than anybody else (22e). With this, Socrates seems to be wiser because he is not ignorant to the fact that he does not know some things, therefore, when he does not know something, he does not pretend to think that he knows …show more content…
The answer to the question was that there was nobody that was wiser than Socrates. In contrast, in Xenophon’s account of this situation, Xenophon wrote that the oracle replied that nobody was more liberal, upright or more temperate than Socrates (Xenophon 25). The difference between the two seems to be large because Plato’s account simply declares Socrates as the wisest person, but Xenophon’s account becomes more specific as it describes Socrates as liberal in which he discards traditional values (Xenophon 29), upright, meaning that he is honorable (Xenophon 29), and temperate in which he shows self-restraint or moderation (Xenophon 28). Too, Plato’s account and Xenophon’s account regarding Socrates’ trial express Socrates using different language for Plato’s uses more philosophic language but Xenophon’s does not seem to do that as much. In Xenophon’s apology, Socrates considers how this situation occurred regarding Lycurgus (Xenophon 25) who is the great lawgiver of Lacedaemon (Xenophon 26). In Lycurgus’ situation, the God was unsure about whether to call Lycurgus a God or a man (Xenophon 26). However, although Socrates did not mention that he was no better than any other man, he concluded that God did not see Socrates as God like, but he saw him as excellent (Xenophon 26), and preferred Socrates to many other
However, Socrates found similar evidence that some individuals not completely familiar with that job, could do it just as well as the craftsman (22d-e). Due to this reasoning, an individual who knows very much about something can often become blind to the idea that other people could also be wise toward the same thing. Thus, the poetry writer and the craftsman became confident to the idea that they knew their job better than anybody else (22e). With this, Socrates seems to be wiser because he is not ignorant to the fact that he does not know some things, therefore, when he does not know something, he does not pretend to think that he knows …show more content…
The answer to the question was that there was nobody that was wiser than Socrates. In contrast, in Xenophon’s account of this situation, Xenophon wrote that the oracle replied that nobody was more liberal, upright or more temperate than Socrates (Xenophon 25). The difference between the two seems to be large because Plato’s account simply declares Socrates as the wisest person, but Xenophon’s account becomes more specific as it describes Socrates as liberal in which he discards traditional values (Xenophon 29), upright, meaning that he is honorable (Xenophon 29), and temperate in which he shows self-restraint or moderation (Xenophon 28). Too, Plato’s account and Xenophon’s account regarding Socrates’ trial express Socrates using different language for Plato’s uses more philosophic language but Xenophon’s does not seem to do that as much. In Xenophon’s apology, Socrates considers how this situation occurred regarding Lycurgus (Xenophon 25) who is the great lawgiver of Lacedaemon (Xenophon 26). In Lycurgus’ situation, the God was unsure about whether to call Lycurgus a God or a man (Xenophon 26). However, although Socrates did not mention that he was no better than any other man, he concluded that God did not see Socrates as God like, but he saw him as excellent (Xenophon 26), and preferred Socrates to many other