“And this is why knowledge is more honourable and excellent than true opinion, because fastened by a chain.”
- Source
- Meno
- Date
- 4th century BCE
- Local voice
- Dialogue speaker · Socrates
Meaning of “And this is why knowledge is more honourable…”
Socrates compares an accurate opinion with understanding that can remain stable because it is connected to an explanation. In his illustration, true beliefs are useful but may slip away until they are secured by an account of their causes; the chain is a metaphor, not a claim about literal memory storage.
Where does it come from?
Meno, around Stephanus 97e–98a, Socrates addressing Meno after the Daedalus-statue comparison. The quoted standalone sentence immediately follows Socrates’s argument that right opinions can guide action but need to be tied down by an account of their cause. Benjamin Jowett English translation, Project Gutenberg #1643. The text and translational phrasing are Jowett’s; the dialogue does not treat every true opinion as worthless.
Why the local voice matters
Meno, around 97e–98a; Socrates distinguishes stable knowledge from true opinion after the Daedalus analogy in Jowett translation.
