What Does it Mean to Have Knowledge?

I've always thought this was a very interesting concept, but the question is only highlighted more by a recent Humanities assignment in which we had to read "Euthyphro" by Plato.

For those of you unfamiliar with the piece, "Euthyphro" is a fictional dialogue between the philosopher Socrates and a religious man named Euthyphro, who claims he is an expert on piety and thus he has knowledge on piety. When Socrates asks for a concrete definition of piety, however, Euthyphro is unable to give him a satisfactory answer.

This lack of a concrete definition may seem understandable to most, since piety may appear different to everyone, however the point Socrates makes with this is that, then, Euthyphro does not have knowledge of piety like he believes he does.

This leads to the object of this article. The modern definition of knowledge is the "acquaintance with facts, truths, or principles, as from study or investigation". Socrates, however, rejects this concept. Instead, he believed that one only has knowledge about something when one knows the Form of something. The definition of all words or concepts change, but what Socrates calls a Form is an unchanging truth--indeed it is the one and only truth--about the subject.

According to this second concept of what knowledge is, one must then ask whether this form of knowledge is even attainable. Can a human ever know the unchanging truth about something?

Now, do not confuse Socrates' idea of knowledge as a means of saying that one should not strive to obtain knowledge since it appears almost unattainable. On the contrary, Socrates felt that one should dedicate one's life to the pursuit of knowledge, as he himself did during his life.

Even though "Euthyphro" is a fictional dialogue, it is still one that I would highly recommend as a beautiful piece of literature and one that really causes the reader to ponder questions not only about themselves, but about the world in general.

If you read "Euthyphro" and take nothing away from it, you need to read it again. That's the beauty of Socrates: you don't have to agree with him, as long as you have some sort of an opinion that you are able to support.

So, does anyone really ever have knowledge of anything? Not according to the way Socrates--and myself--think. but, even if you don't believe this, don't make the same mistake as Euthyphro and believe that your knowledge somehow makes you superior to all other people that claim to have knowledge in your field. Just remember, you might not know as much as you think you know.