Plato · Complete work
Stephanus 29b
Stephanus 29b of 125. Read it here for reference, or continue through the entire work without leaving the reader.
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ὅτι μέγιστον τῶν κακῶν ἐστι. καίτοι πῶς οὐκ ἀμαθία ἐστὶν αὕτη ἡ ἐπονείδιστος, ἡ τοῦ οἴεσθαι εἰδέναι ἃ οὐκ οἶδεν; ἐγὼ δʼ, ὦ ἄνδρες, τούτῳ καὶ ἐνταῦθα ἴσως διαφέρω τῶν πολλῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ εἰ δή τῳ σοφώτερός του φαίην εἶναι, τούτῳ ἄν, ὅτι οὐκ εἰδὼς ἱκανῶς περὶ τῶν ἐν Ἅιδου οὕτω καὶ οἴομαι οὐκ εἰδέναι· τὸ δὲ ἀδικεῖν καὶ ἀπειθεῖν τῷ βελτίονι καὶ θεῷ καὶ ἀνθρώπῳ, ὅτι κακὸν καὶ αἰσχρόν ἐστιν οἶδα. πρὸ οὖν τῶν κακῶν ὧν οἶδα ὅτι κακά ἐστιν, ἃ μὴ οἶδα εἰ καὶ ἀγαθὰ ὄντα τυγχάνει οὐδέποτε φοβήσομαι οὐδὲ φεύξομαι· ὥστε οὐδʼ εἴ
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from the complete Ancient Greek text across all 125 Stephanus sections for fidelity, philosophical precision, Socratic voice, legal clarity, and structure.
that it is the greatest of evils. And yet how is this not that most disgraceful ignorance—the belief that one knows what one does not know? In this respect, gentlemen, I may perhaps differ from most people; and if I were to claim that I am wiser than anyone in any respect, it would be in this: that since I do not know enough about the things in Hades, I also do not suppose that I know. But I do know that to commit injustice and to disobey one’s superior, whether god or man, is evil and shameful. Therefore, before evils that I know to be evils, I shall never fear or flee from things that I do not know to be evils and that may, for all I know, actually be good. And so, not even if
Mouseia
Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 125 Ancient Greek Stephanus sections.
that it is the greatest of evils. And yet how is this not the most disgraceful ignorance—the belief that one knows what one does not know? But, gentlemen, in this respect and on this point I may differ from most people; and if I were to claim that I am wiser than anyone in any way, it would be in this: since I do not know enough about what happens in Hades, I also recognize that I do not know. But I do know that doing wrong and disobeying one’s superior, whether god or human being, is evil and shameful. So I will never fear or avoid things that I do not know may actually be good rather than evils that I know are evil. Therefore, not even if