Socrates’ Human Wisdom

Abstract

The concept of human wisdom is fundamental for an understanding of theApology. But it has not been properly understood. The received interpretations offer insufficient resources for explaining how Socrates could have been humanly wise before Apollo’s oracle, when he falsely believed that he was not wise at all. I argue that a satisfactory interpretation of human wisdom can be given in terms of “philosophia”. Socrates was humanly wise before the oracle because he loved wisdom—even though he did not know that he did. The analysis is confirmed by its resolution of some enduring difficulties in the interpretation ofApology, in particular, the question of why Socrates continued to search for knowledge he thought impossible to attain.