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Full Idea
There is a state of mind half-way between wisdom and ignorance - having true opinions without being able to give reasons for them.
Gist of Idea
True opinion without reason is midway between wisdom and ignorance
Source
Plato (The Symposium [c.373 BCE], 202a)
Book Ref
Plato: 'The Symposium', ed/tr. Hamilton,W [Penguin 1951], p.80
A Reaction
Compare Idea 2140, where Plato scorns this state of mind. What he describes could be split into two - purely lucky true beliefs, and 'externalist knowledge', with non-conscious justification.
Related Idea
Idea 2140 True belief without knowledge is like blind people on the right road [Plato]
1923 | As a guide to action, true opinion is as good as knowledge [Plato] |
2140 | True belief without knowledge is like blind people on the right road [Plato] |
174 | True opinion without reason is midway between wisdom and ignorance [Plato] |
2089 | An inadequate rational account would still not justify knowledge [Plato] |
8331 | To know something we need understanding, which is grasp of the primary cause [Aristotle] |
22759 | Fools, infants and madmen may speak truly, but do not know [Sext.Empiricus] |
19517 | Believing without a reason may just be love of your own fantasies [Locke] |
12898 | Justification is neither sufficient nor necessary for knowledge [Lewis] |
8811 | What we want to know is - when is it all right to believe something? [Pollock] |
19734 | If value is practical, knowledge is no better than true opinion [Greco] |
6800 | Many philosophers rate justification as a more important concept than knowledge [Bird] |
19539 | If knowledge is unanalysable, that makes justification more important [Dougherty/Rysiew] |