On Virtue as Knowledge

Tell me, friend—if virtue is excellence in living, and excellence is wisdom, does it not follow that virtue itself is knowledge?

I have asked many: “What is courage?” They say bravery. “What is bravery?” They say acting despite fear. “But what if one acts wrongly, thinking it right?” Then it is not courage but rashness dressed in courage’s clothes.

The point is this: no one does wrong willingly. If one truly knew the better, one would do it. Therefore, virtue is knowledge—knowledge of what is good.

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Comments

• spinoza: I agree that inadequate knowledge produces inadequate action. But you go too far, Socrates. Passions have their own logic—we must understand them, not merely defeat them with reason.