The Importance Of Wisdom In 'The Apology' By Socrates

In modern society, wisdom can be defined as the quality of having experience, knowledge, and moral judgment; the quality of being wise. However, Socrates had the idea that wisdom was knowing oneself. Socrates’s was beyond brilliant compared to the average Athenian; he was self-aware and just. Although Socrates tended to meddle in the affairs of others, he consequently had the ability to spark enlightenment among the people in Athens. To Socrates, philosophy served as the study of humans. He highlights this in The Apology when he goes from one social group to the next in search for the wisest of all the land. This is of course in response to the Oracle of Delphi addressing the fact that Socrates presents himself as the wisest of the entire known world. This was dangerous since Socrates dared to challenge the Oracle by trying to demonstrate he was not the wisest. Through this, however, Socrates learns that he was the wisest because he could admit that he did not have knowledge in all subjects; he could explicitly declare that he has not achieved ultimate knowledge of everything, unlike most Athenians. The Apology serves as anything but an apology in the context of Socrates. In 399 B.C., Socrates

Where these other men consider themselves the best in every craft, Socrates dismisses his own pride in order to be a genuine, better human being. Self-knowledge, in the Athenian government, could have saved many people during the Peloponnesian War. If the leaders had been like Socrates, and admitted defeat, the people of Athens may not have suffered the sheer amount of damage their war-torn city endured. If the people of Athens had the amount of wisdom, Socrates had, they would not have executed him, but they also would not have given him free meals for