Philosophy: Knowledge Is Virtue Socrates Is Widely

Philosophy: Knowledge Is Virtue

Socrates is widely acknowledged as the world's first philosopher, since he was the first to direct the attention of men from merely focusing on the study of nature to the study of human nature. Indeed, Socrates was the pioneer in moral philosophy for though the Sophists spoke of justice, law and temperance, they were still unable to define such values (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Heartlight Web site).

It was Socrates' search for understanding and defining human nature and the morals guiding it that led him to the dictum that "knowledge is virtue," for Socrates believed that it was the lack of knowledge that led to confusion about what is good. It is apparent that Socrates arrived at this conclusion from his own relentless search for the truth, to which he seems to have devoted his life. It is said that Socrates, in order to obtain the truth, discarded all sophistry and pretences and even spent time among the workplaces of artisans and merchants in an attempt to get people to think about universal principals through a process of question and answer. Thus, it is obvious that it was all his empirical observations, which led him to conclude that it was only a man's knowledge of 'true good' that could lead him to be virtuous (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Heartlight Web site).

Indeed, both Socrates' understanding of human nature and methods of study are prominently in evidence in Plato's Meno, where Socrates and Meno discuss the definition of virtue and the ways by which virtue can be taught or acquired. Though Socrates himself had probably already reached the conclusion that "knowledge is virtue," he adopts his usual method of investigative study comprised of the dialectical process of the development of thought through contradiction, to get Meno to arrive at the same conclusion (University of West Indies Web site).

Socrates sets out from a particular idea or opinion, usually derived from Meno's own thoughts and concrete life experiences, and then by a rigorous, step-by-step process of argument, brings to light inner contradictions contained in Meno's own ideas of "what virtue is," to show its limitations before proceeding to take the discussion to a higher level, involving entirely different propositions such as: virtue is inherent in the immortal human soul and only needs remembrance through enquiry and learning (which is simply a matter of recollection); that virtue is knowledge and wisdom; and finally that virtue cannot be either acquired or taught since it is a God given gift.

Socrates' very method of conducting his discussion on the various aspects of virtue is very revealing in that the method itself demonstrates the importance of enquiry when searching for the truth or right knowledge of the subject at hand. Thus, he begins by cleverly getting Meno to air his views on "What is virtue" (71b). When Meno describes various virtues and says "...there are virtues numberless, and no lack of definitions for them; for virtue is relative to the actions and ages of each of us in all that we do" (71e-72a), Socrates points out the flaw in his definition by drawing various analogies such as a swarm of bees and the nature of health and strength in man and woman alike, and asking Meno as to how one can be distinguished from the other, leading to answering the basic question of "what is the nature of the bee" (72b-73d).

In other words, through question and answer and deeper analysis and enquiry, Socrates leads Meno to the realization that a definition cannot consist merely of descriptions of end actions but necessarily must contain a common underlying cause or characteristic.

Once Meno himself reaches the conclusion that far greater enquiry is needed to arrive at a definition of virtue, he alongwith Socrates embark on a search for the truth behind virtue through a process of formulating possible thesis and antithesis. In following this procedure, Socrates demonstrates the importance of enquiry in attaining higher and higher levels of knowledge.

Indeed, he implies as much to Meno: "The answer, Meno, was in the orthodox solemn vein, and therefore was more acceptable to you than the other answer..." (73d), and again when he points out, "You argue that a man cannot enquire either about that which he knows, or about that which he does not know; for if he knows, he has no need to enquire; and if not, he cannot; for he does not know the very subject about which he is to enquire" (80d).

Ultimately, Socrates resorts to divine revelation, followed by demonstration to convince Meno of his first proposition of the definition of virtue: "...the soul of man is immortal...having seen all things that exist...has knowledge of them...should be able to call to remembrance...ever knew about virtue..." (81a-82a). Socrates proves his concept to Meno by establishing that one of Meno's slave boys, who has never been taught geometry, can nevertheless answer a series of questions on the properties of a square (82b). Thus, Socrates proves to Meno that "...this spontaneous recovery of knowledge...is recollection," and that "...his soul must have always possessed this knowledge." (85e-86a)

Of course, Socrates' methods are somewhat debatable since the questions he asks are leading and suggestive, thereby assisting the slave boy's answers. However, the fact remains that Socrates does establish that even an untaught person can acquire knowledge by asking a series of questions that teach him to think. Leading from this, Socrates lays the ground for concluding that 'knowledge is virtue,' as now even the slave boy through acquiring knowledge by a process of enquiry and learning will be better able to distinguish good from bad and right from wrong.