Single Idea 13780

[catalogued under 1. Philosophy / A. Wisdom / 2. Wise People]

Full Idea

Socrates: Are good people any different from wise ones? No, they aren't.

Gist of Idea

Good people are no different from wise ones

Source

Plato (Cratylus [c.375 BCE], 398b)

Book Reference

Plato: 'Complete Works', ed/tr. Cooper,John M. [Hackett 1997], p.116


A Reaction

This is Socrates's 'intellectualism', his view that being good is entirely a matter of reason and knowledge, and not a matter of habit or emotion. Do we still accept the traditional assumption that wise people are thereby morally good?