What Is Humility Plato?

Plato does not list humility as a virtue, and the word we usually translate that way, tapeinotes, generally meant “lowliness” or “abjectness” in classical Greek, which is why the Christian ideal of humility is not simply something Plato discusses. What he does offer, mainly through Socrates, is a model of intellectual humility: knowing the limits of what you know and being willing to be examined. That is close to what the question “what is humility, Plato?” is usually asking, and it is the subject of this page. Its best-known statement is Socrates’ remark in the Apology (21d) that he is wiser than the man he questioned only in that he does not think he knows what he does not know.

Humility Plato: Insights from Ancient Philosophy

In the Apology (21b–23b) Socrates tells how the oracle at Delphi said that no one was wiser than Socrates (21a). He tests the claim by questioning politicians, poets and craftsmen, and finds that they think they know things they do not, whereas he is aware of his own ignorance. He concludes that human wisdom is worth little (23a–b) and that the real fault is thinking you know what you do not (29a–b). The popular summary “I know that I know nothing” is not a quotation from Plato; see what Socrates meant by it.

This is the closest thing in Plato to a doctrine of humility. It is a claim about knowledge, and not a call for self-abasement. Socrates is not modest about his mission, and he tells the jury that he will obey the god before them (29d).

Modesty: The Virtue that Requires Humility

The Greek virtue nearest to modesty is sophrosyne, usually translated “temperance” or “self-control”. Plato’s Charmides is the dialogue devoted to it, and one of its proposed definitions links it to the Delphic maxim “know thyself” (164d–165b). The dialogue ends without a settled definition. See Plato’s Charmides.

Humility and Modesty in Everyday Life

In everyday terms, a person with intellectual humility is open to learning from others, is willing to say “I do not know”, and does not let talent turn into contempt for others. Those are modern descriptions of the trait, and the dialogues show them in action more than they name them.

Explaining Modesty in Philosophy

Modern philosophers distinguish modesty, which concerns how one presents one’s achievements, from intellectual humility, which concerns how one holds one’s beliefs. Plato does not draw this distinction in these words. His interest is in the second: the person who recognises ignorance can begin to inquire, and the person who is sure of already knowing cannot.

Philosophy and Humility: Epistemic Virtues

Intellectual humility, also called epistemic humility, means holding beliefs with the confidence the evidence warrants and staying open to correction. The dialogues dramatise it. In the Meno (80a–84c) Socrates cross-examines a slave boy who thinks he knows how to double a square, shows him that he does not, and observes that the boy is better off for knowing he is puzzled, because now he wants to find out. Meno complains that Socrates numbs people like a torpedo fish (80a), and the point is that admitting ignorance is the first step towards knowledge.

The Value of Modesty in Social Interactions

Plato also treats the opposite of humility, the pretence of knowledge, as damaging in public life. The people Socrates examines in the Apology are in positions of influence and cause harm to others by claiming expertise they lack. He says this is why many came to dislike him (21c–23a).

Humility Plato and the Socratic Method

The Socratic method is a practical form of intellectual humility. The questioner claims no knowledge, and the answers are tested by argument. In the Theaetetus (150c–151d) Socrates describes himself as a midwife who is himself barren of wisdom, and who only helps others to bring forth their ideas and tests whether they are sound. For how the method works, see the Socratic method in Plato’s dialogues.

Humility Plato vs. Arrogance in Philosophy

Plato sets this attitude against the arrogance of those who claim to be wise, particularly the sophists he criticises in works like the Gorgias and the Protagoras. Confidence is not itself criticised. Socrates argues with great confidence. The target is unearned claims to knowledge.

In the Phaedrus (278d) Socrates says that to call a person “wise” seems to him too great a title, fitting only a god, and that “lover of wisdom” suits a human better. In the Symposium (203e–204b) the philosopher is placed between the wise and the ignorant, because the one who is already wise does not seek wisdom, and neither does the one who is content in ignorance.

Cultivating Humility in Philosophical Traditions

Later traditions developed the theme. Christian writers made humility (humilitas) a central virtue, and some drew on Plato for other ideas; modern epistemology treats intellectual humility as one of the intellectual virtues. Those are developments after Plato and the debates over what counts as humility are modern.

Public Perception of Humility and Modesty

People often speak of “Socratic humility” to mean readiness to admit ignorance. It is a fair shorthand if one remembers that the Socrates of the dialogues is also forceful and sometimes ironic, and that it is Plato who wrote him.

Plato’s Perspective on Humility and Modesty

Plato does not discuss humility as a named virtue among the four cardinal virtues of the Republic (wisdom, courage, temperance and justice). The nearest he comes to the everyday sense of the word is in the Laws (716a), where the man who would be happy is said to follow Justice humbly (tapeinos) and in good order. That is an unusually approving use of a word that normally carries the sense of “low”.

Humility and Modesty: Exploring Plato’s Insights

The main contribution is the link between ignorance and inquiry. In the Meno, the Apology and the Symposium, awareness of not knowing is what drives philosophy. Self-knowledge, in the Delphic sense in the Charmides (164d–165b), is a part of sophrosyne.

Cultivating Humility in Light of Plato’s Philosophy

Plato’s aim is understanding more than modesty for its own sake. He holds that people who know the limits of what they know are better placed to learn, to govern well and to live well. This is why his dialogues so often end in a puzzle (aporia) without a settled answer.

Explaining Modesty and Humility in Plato’s Dialogues

Although Plato does not directly ask “what is humility?”, the Socratic admission of ignorance and the dialogues’ habit of testing every claim give a coherent account of intellectual humility. A reader who takes it seriously can start by asking, of any belief, what grounds there are for thinking it true.