The Delphic Oracle and Socratic Wisdom

In Plato's Apology, Socrates explains how his mission began. His friend Chaerephon asked the oracle of Apollo at Delphi whether anyone was wiser than Socrates, and the priestess answered that no one was. Puzzled, because he believed he knew nothing important, Socrates tested the oracle by questioning politicians, poets and craftsmen. He found that each thought they knew more than they did, while he at least recognized his own ignorance.

He concluded that the oracle meant human wisdom is worth little, and that the wisest person is one who, like Socrates, knows this. This awareness of one's limits is often summarized as 'I know that I know nothing', though that exact phrase is a later simplification. Socrates came to see questioning as a religious duty, linking philosophy to the Delphic command 'Know thyself'. The story shows how he understood his own work and why he refused to stop.