Was Socrates Wise About God Essays - Socratic Dialogues

Was Socrates Wise About God? Mary Garofalo Fr. Mohr October 18, 2000 Socrates's Wisdom of God In this paper I will attempt to define, for the reader, the true meaning of wisdom and all of its parts. I will try to explain knowledge and the knower versus the known. I will also, attempt to explain exactly how a person comes to be considered wise, as Socrates was. So, in truth, explain the Socratic method. Hopefully, by the time the reader has finished this paper, he/she will have a good grasp on my own opinion of Socrates and also, have a grasp on the definition of wisdom and how it applies to Socrates. I will accomplish theses tasks by using the works of Plato, the Apology, the Crito and the Phaedo, in hopes to prove my point. What is wisdom? The literal meaning, or etymology of the word is rooted in the Indo-European words such as weid, woid, wid meaning, ?to see?. The etymology of wisdom also can be seen in the verb ?wit? from German, which means, ?to know? (Mohr, 3). So, the etymology is too see and to know. This is the definition I will expand on. Wisdom is a type of seeing. Seeing means that the seer and the object being seen are united. This union of the seer or knower and the known or seen is Knowledge. Knowledge can be in relation to virtually anything where there is a union of the knower and the known. One can be the knower of Biology and he knows about life. He has knowledge about life. One can know psychology and have knowledge about the human psyche. But my question is, are the Biologist and the Psychologist really wise Or do they only have one type of knowledge on one select subject? Take this analogy for example. A person may have a complete understanding of how to ride a bicycle. They know a ll of the laws and the mechanics and the physics of the entire concept of riding a bike. But they have never tried to ride it; to experience it (class notes). Do they have wisdom of how to ride a bicycle? I believe wisdom is knowledge, most definitely. But, it is not that simple. I believe that in order for one to be considered wise, one must have more than one type of knowledge, such as the person who knows how riding a bike works. That is what is called theoretical knowledge. There are two types of knowledge. Theoretical knowledge is the knowledge of how the fundamental laws of a situation (such as riding a bicycle) work. There is also a second type of knowledge. That is practical knowledge. Practical knowledge by definition is, a knowledge of how to do something or life experience (for example, being able to physically ride a bicycle). So, again I ask, what is wisdom? Well, one part of my own definition is that wisdom is knowledge of the practical as well as the theoretical. It is life experience as well as being able to understand and appreciate the laws and mechanics or fundamentals of a situation. Another aspect I believe is essential to wisdom is the ability to constantly question one's surroundings. I believe that it is absolutely essential for one to first doubt, then question, then communicate ones thought. In this method, it is the main objective to constantly search for the truth in every situation. The last aspect that I believe is necessary to embody wisdom is a little more difficult to explain. It has to do with the statements above, as in the constant quest for truth. To legitimately be on a quest for truth one must do the following: First, question themselves. By doing this, they will have the ability to know themselves. In order for one to know him/herself, one must have knowledge of God's existence and ever-presence. By knowing one's self and by knowing God, one will have a conscience, which will be the element of good judgment, decion making and purity of motives. Now, the initial question that has been argued for ages, was Socrates wise As I had stated previously, to be wise is to know one's self, to know god through questioning,