Do You Know The Quote Is Philosophy And Not Wisdom Begins In Wonder By Socrates?

Yes, the correct quote in English translation by Socrates should be philosophy and not wisdom begins in wonder.

There is this popular quote: “Wisdom begins in wonder” attributed to Socrates or sometimes known as “father of Western philosophy”.

The fact is, you cannot find this exact English translation from any of published Socrates’ dialogues.

philosophy and not wisdom begins in wonderAs we are told, this classical Greek philosopher Socrates never wrote down anything.

Socrates’ way of teaching was to have a dialogue with individual students.

They would propose some point of view, and then Socrates would question them, asking what they meant.

Today, most of what we know about Socrates is through the dialogues of Plato, Xenophon and the plays of Aristophanes.

Philosophy And Not Wisdom Begins In Wonder

Anyway, from my own research, the two quotes which are similar to “wisdom begins in wonder“, I found are:

“…philosophy begins in wonder.”

(The Dialogues Of Plato Translated Into English With Analyses And Introductions By B. Jowett, Vol. IV, Oxford University Press, 1892, Theaetetus; p.155)

(This quote is also found in: Theaetetus By Plato, Translated by Benjamin Jowett)

“…wonder is the only beginning of philosophy…”

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(Here is another .)

(Another source of this quote is also found in: )

These are the two English translations from Plato’s work called The Theaetetus.

The Theaetetus is Plato’s dialogue concerning the nature of knowledge, written circa 369 BC.

In this dialogue, Socrates and Theaetetus discuss three definitions of knowledge:

i) knowledge as nothing but perception

ii) knowledge as true judgement

iii) knowledge as a true judgment with an account.

Socrates declares Theaetetus will have benefited from discovering what he does not know, and that he may be better able to approach the topic in the future.

The conversation ends with Socrates’ announcement that he has to go to court to face a criminal indictment. ()