In the Apologia Socrates is made to say
"I went to one who had the reputation of wisdom, and observed him—his name I need not mention; he was a politician whom I selected for examination—and the result was as follows: When I began to talk with him, I could not help thinking that he was not really wise, although he was thought wise by many, and still wiser by himself; and thereupon I tried to explain to him that he thought himself wise, but was not really wise; and the consequence was that he hated me, and his enmity was shared by several who were present and heard me. So I left him, saying to myself, as I went away: Well, although I do not suppose that either of us knows anything really beautiful and good, I am better off than he is,—for he knows nothing, and thinks that he knows; I neither know nor think that I know. In this latter particular, then, I seem to have slightly the advantage of him."
I love this passage. The bit where Socrates says "I tried to explain to him that he thought himself wise, but was not really wise" suggests the philosopher was somewhat short on tact and diplomacy.
After
this he went off and offended other groups, such as poets and artisans.
He sums it up "This inquisition has led to my having many enemies".
Quotes from http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1656/1656-h/1656-h.htm
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Indeedy. And the other bit he got wrong was "the unexamined life is not worth living". Although I agree by inbuilt compulsion, it is not the key to happiness. That is ignorance. Only the ignorant can know they are right and thereby be made free in their actions and conscience.
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What's your thought on Voltaire's aphorism: "Il fault cultiver notre jardin"? It seems to have a lot of Candide appeal.
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I don't know if you were aware I just finished reading Candide only a few days ago. I think it went over my head: it just seemed to be a whinge-fest and knocking the church. I didn't get the repeated reference to "this is the best possible world" - I must be missing a philosophy he was criticising.
Google Translate tells me "Il faut cultiver notre jardin" means "We must cultivate our garden". In the context of what I read in Candide (people being treated cruelly and unfairly and doing what they must to survive) I will take that to mean "make hay while the sun shines" or "you can only play the cards you have been dealt". Or, life is unfair and cruel and you must make of it what you can. Which suggests he was rather bravely suggesting the world is not perfect, which further implies it is not as God planned, so it must be as people make it. Or saying "Either God makes some rubbish decisions or the world is not how it is but because people make it this way". Was the philosophy of the time "The world is as God intended" or a Christian equivalent of insha'Allah and Voltaire is saying that is not true? Or was predestination a philosophical fashion of the day that he was having a go at?
You've opened a can of worms for me, Richard. Or my eyes. Or my mind. As per blinking usual, you clever bugger!
But I got the candied peel pun!
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As I understand it, Leibniz maintained the world we inhabit was the 'best of all possible worlds'. Candide was Voltaire's response to this notion.
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I always thought 'Il fault cultiver notre jardin' was meant as a sort of proto-existentialist piece of advice.
By a double coincidence someone mentioned Candide in the bar where I was on Friday evening. Sometimes the book gets no mentions for years and then a whole lot come along all at once.