Socratic Ignorance

             Another example of Socratic ignorance is presented in The Meno, which takes place just after Socrates has won a similar argument on the nature of the virtues with a well known wise man in Athens at the time, Meno. Meno, who is known to be quite an intellectual and a good rhetorician, compares him to a stingray, by saying that having a debate with Socrates leaves his mind and mouth numb, much as his body would had it been stung by a stingray. Socrates replies that he could only be like a stingray, if it were possible for a stingray to sting itself, as the same conversations which leave his opponents" minds numb leave his mind in a similar state. He illustrates this further by saying the following:.
             " I don't cause others perplexity while being above all perplexities myself. Far from it: it is because I am so much more perplexed than others, that I make them perplexed to.".
             Socrates says this to show Meno that he does not seek, like the Sophists, to win arguments by running logical rings around whomever he is talking to. For Socrates, winning the argument is of little importance. What matters to him is the continuing search for the truth.
             His sincerity can be shown in a variety of cases, recorded by Plato. In The Theaetetus, Socrates describes himself as a kind of intellectual midwife. He says that people are "pregnant with ideas", and that his job - barren though he is of knowledge - is to help extract the good ideas from people, and to induce miscarriage in those with poor ideas. This claim in itself verifies that he is sincere, as he does not take credit for the wisdom of others, and also that he honestly believes that he himself is ignorant.
             It may, however, be argued that Socrates is not entirely sincere in his claim to knowing nothing. There are some things that he very boldly claims to know about, which, in truth, are completely beyond our scope of understanding. On such example of this arises in The Phaedo, which gives an account of Socrates" final hours.