Plato, Alcibiades 1, section 117b

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[117b]

Alcibiades
I agree.

Socrates
Then is it the case that when a man does not know a thing he must needs be bewildered in spirit regarding that thing?

Alcibiades
Yes, of course.

Socrates
Well now, do you know in what way you can ascend to heaven?

Alcibiades
On my word, not I.

Socrates
Is that too a kind of question about which your judgement is bewildered?

Alcibiades
No, indeed.

Socrates
Do you know the reason, or shall I state it?

Alcibiades
State it.

Socrates
It is, my friend, that while not knowing the matter you do not suppose that you know it.

Plato. Plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol. 8 translated by W.R.M. Lamb. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. 1955.

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