Opinion now floods pre-election panels. Everyone has something to say about everything. Opinion becomes an argument of rivalry against whatever the person opposite is claiming.
Most of those voices are newcomers, yet they come armed with astonishing swagger. They claim to know it all. To his credit, Fidias openly admits that on many things he has no idea – that he does not know. That does not mean I will vote for him. I have not decided yet, and I do not even know whether I will decide by 24 May.
The most authoritative position on this question was expressed by Plato, the student of Socrates: “Everyone has opinions – but do they have knowledge in order to have an opinion?” This saying is dedicated to both old and new candidates. They would do well to study Socrates and would benefit immensely from it.
We know little about Socrates’ life. He left no written work, and most of what we know comes from the dialogues recorded by his most famous student, Plato, as well as from Xenophon’s memoirs. Accounts describe Socrates as a person who neglected his own affairs and instead spent his time discussing virtue, justice and piety. He sought out places where fellow citizens gathered, in search of wisdom about proper conduct that could guide Athens towards moral and intellectual improvement.
Using a method now known as the Socratic dialogue, or dialectic, he helped his students arrive at knowledge by posing a series of questions and examining the implications of their answers. And yet, he left behind immense wisdom following his tragic, self-inflicted death.
It is worth recalling some of his timeless maxims, attributed to one of the wisest people who ever lived:
- “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
- “Life is not worth living without purpose.”
- “There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance.”
- “I cannot teach anybody anything. I can only make them think.”
- “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
- “Strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, weak minds discuss people.”
- “By all means, marry. If you get a good spouse, you will become happy; if you get a bad one, you will become a philosopher.”
- “The beginning of wisdom is the pursuit of knowledge.”
In a campaign season dominated by certainty and confidence, perhaps a little doubt – and a little humility – would serve us all better.