The famous phrase attributed to Socrates generates an intense debate and raises a lot of curiosity about its meaning. As Socrates left no writings, it is impossible to say whether the philosopher actually uttered that phrase.
It is true that “I only know that I know nothing” meets his philosophy. The sentence, understood as something good, sums up the importance he gave to critical thinking, uncertainty and becoming aware of his own ignorance.
Knowing that you don’t know is not a “defect”, but the basis for abandoning opinion ( doxa ) and the search for true knowledge ( epistéme ), the objective of philosophy.
Why is awareness of ignorance important in the search for knowledge?
For Socrates, true knowledge arose from the abandonment of common sense and opinion. The particular character of the opinions is opposed to the universality of knowledge.
Thus, everyone who sustains knowledge in opinions, is satisfied as a false knowledge and turns away from the truth. The philosopher understands that it is necessary to question certainties, opinions and preconceptions.
Thus, he created a way based on critical questions that expose the doxa’s inconsistencies , causing false certainties to be abandoned and there is an awareness of “not knowing”, of ignorance itself.
From this awareness, the individual is ready to seek, in himself, new answers that will lead him to the truth. This movement was called the “Socratic method”.
In the Socratic method, irony is responsible for becoming aware of one’s own ignorance and maieutics (birth of the idea) is the search for the concept, or for the truth.
Thus, the phrase “I only know that I know nothing” represents a wisdom similar to that reached after the first movement of the Socratic method (irony). For the philosopher, knowing that you don’t know is preferable to knowing badly .
Although it is little: I do not believe I know what I do not know.
(Plato, Apology of Socrates)
What is the story behind the phrase “I only know that I know nothing”?
The phrase is a response by Socrates to the message of the oracle of Apollo given to his friend Querofonte in Delphi, who claimed that he was the wisest among Greek men.
The philosopher would have questioned this condition of wiser, when in Greek society, there were several authorities recognized for their knowledge.
So he devoted his life to investigating what it was like to be wise and true knowledge. To this end, he questioned the Greek authorities and demonstrated that what was understood as wisdom, was nothing more than mere opinions supported by common sense.
This behavior by Socrates made him enemies among the powerful in Athens, often exposed to ridicule by Socratic irony.
Discontent and rejection of the figure of Socrates in the most influential circles of Athenian politics culminated in his judgment and death sentence. After his sentence is defined, the philosopher still leaves one more lesson:
But now is the time to leave: me for death, you for life. Who of us follows the best course nobody knows, except the gods.
(Plato, Apology of Socrates)