Thinking books · Foundations & philosophy · Plato, c. 399 BC

The Apology — the big ideas

Socrates on trial, explaining why he spent his life asking people questions they did not want.

Free — no account needed to read

The big ideas

The famous claim is not that he knows nothing, but that he is wiser only in not believing he knows what he does not. That distinction is the whole of intellectual humility in one line.

He goes looking for someone wiser and finds that reputation and competence come apart: people skilled in one thing assumed they were therefore skilled in everything.

It is a record of what examining beliefs costs socially. People do not enjoy being shown that their certainty was inherited.

Practise it — no need to have read it

Write three things you are confident about in your work. For each, write honestly how you came to believe it — who told you, and what evidence came with it.

A hint: Watch for the ones where the honest answer is "everyone says so".

Where it shows up in real life

• Knowing the edge of your competence
• Receiving criticism
• Giving advice outside your field

This book is old enough to be freely available in most countries.

Described in our own words with the source named — never quoted, and not a substitute for reading the book.