Philosophy is essentially not possession of the truth, but quest for the truth. The distinctive trait of the philosopher is that 'he knows that he knows nothing," and that his insight into our ignorance concerning the most important things induces him to strive with all his power for knowledge. He would cease to be a philosopher by evading the questions concerning these things or by disregarding them because they cannot be answered. It may be that as regards the possible answers, the pros and cons will always be in a more or less even balance, and therefore that philosophy will never go beyond the stage of discussion or disputation and will never reach the stage of decision. This would not make philosophy futile. For the clear grasp of a fundamental question requires understanding of the nature of the subject matter with which the question is concerned. Genuine knowledge of a fundamental question, thorough understanding of it, is better than blindness to it, or indifference to it, be that indifference or blindness accompanied by knowledge of the answers to a vast number of peripheral or ephemeral questions or not. Minimum quod potest haberi de cognitione rerum altissimarum desiderabilius est quam certissima cognitio quae habetur de minibus rebus.* (Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, I, qu i, a. 5)
- Leo Strauss, What is Political Philosophy? And Other Studies, p. 10.
* 'The slenderest knowledge that may be obtained of the highest things is more desirable than the most certain knowledge obtained of lesser things.'
Philosopher in Meditation, 1632, Rembrandt van Rijn, Louvre.
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