In Pursuit of Knowledge

Originally posted April 6, 2006

For a long time I've thought that I should have minored in sociology. That is, if I had had time for a minor (and if I had, I probably would've minored in music, but that's neither here nor there). I've always found the study of society's behavior interesting, but have been coming to the realization lately that despite my interest, my understanding is lacking.

This realization has nicely blurred into an interest in philosophy, and preliminary research on Socrates, regarded by most as the father of philosophic studies.

What is known about Socrates hails mostly from second-hand sources: his student, Plato; Plato's student, Aristotle; an admirer and soldier, Xenophon (recognizing the origin of the word xenophobe, anyone?); and a satirist, Aristophanes. That's right, if Socrates ever wrote anything down (and it isn't known whether he did), it no longer exists. And, yeah, well, you can't always trust information penned by a satirist. But anyway...

The son of a sculptor and a midwife, Socrates didn't work. He had no job. He was a full-time philosopher and devoted his life to the study and observation of beliefs, virtue, knowledge, politics and ethics. I'm particularly interested in his take on virtue and knowledge. For example (from wikipedia):

"Socrates believed that the best way for people to live was to focus on self-development rather than the pursuit of material wealth. (Gross 2). He always invited others to try to concentrate more on friendships and a sense of true community, for Socrates felt that this was the best way for people to grow together as a populace.

The idea that humans possessed certain virtues formed a common thread in Socrates' teachings. These virtues represented the most important qualities for a person to have, foremost of which were the philosophical or intellectual virtues. Socrates stressed that 'virtue was the most valuable of all possessions; the ideal life was spent in search of the Good. Truth lies beneath the shadows of existence, and that it is the job of the philosopher to show the rest how little they really know.' (Solomon 44)

Ultimately, virtue relates to the form of the Good; to truly be good and not just act with 'right opinion;' one must come to know the unchanging Good in itself. In the Republic, he describes the 'divided line,' a continuum of ignorance to knowledge with the Good on top of it all; only at the top of this line do we find true good and the knowledge of such."

What a perfect way of expressing what I've been thinking!

In questioning the men of Athens, Socrates arrived at the conclusion that although they believed themselves to know much, they knew nothing. He also stated that he knew nothing, but it was his awareness of this ignorance that made him "wise" (in the opinion of others, because he actually rejected being labeled as wise).

Perhaps it is this point I am arriving at. I am becoming increasingly aware that although I know many things, I really don't know anything at all. And while I'm not trying to be "wise," my awareness of this ignorance is actually frustrating, because I really do want to culture my intellect. However, if possible, it seems that the more I learn, the less I know. Or maybe that's because the more I learn, the more I realize how much I haven't yet learned, which feeds the ignorance and said awareness of it.

Lost you yet?

It reminds me of a line off the blast-door map in my new favorite show, "Lost." The line, when translated from Latin, reads, "The cure is worse than the disease."

I have been loving this line and the all things I can apply it to. In this case, think of ignorance as the disease. The cure would be knowledge, right? However, the more knowledge you acquire, the more you see that there is so much you don't yet know, and may never know, that the "disease" ends up growing. See what I'm saying?

Regardless, I have a desire to learn more (but NOT in a school setting...too much structure!!), and I will continue to feed my curiosity, despite the realization that the more doors I open, the more places I have to explore. I must learn to tame my frustration with not being able to know everything now, now, NOW!

As Socrates said, the philosopher is only a lover of wisdom, and is not actually wise. I suppose by that definition, then, I am a philosopher.

Dom commented: what?

actually, its quite a coincidence that you decided to do a blog on that 'cause i'm listening to guns 'n roses right now... what?! you don't see the connection? use your illusions i and ii? school of athens? c'mon now! that was so obvious!

Kim commented: Actually, I find it odd that Guns 'N' Roses is even allowed in the same CD player as Third Day! Kudos for variety.