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Socrates makes the claim in The Apology that no one knowingly does evil. To clarify, Socrates does not mean to suggest that no one ever commits an evil at out of hatred or selfishness. Rather, he wishes to suggest that hatred, selfishness, and any other source of evil action can ultimately be traced back to ignorance. For Socrates, hatred between people is the result of misunderstandings or miscommunications, and selfishness is the result of deficient self-knowledge. His investigations, thus, generally ask such questions as what it is to be virtuous, or pious, or just. In his dogged efforts to understand these terms himself, and his persistence in showing his interlocutors to be wrong in assuming they have such understanding, Socrates reveals himself as a man intent on gaining the self-knowledge necessary to lead a virtuous life. If we knew ourselves and others fully, and had a full understanding of the facts at hand, we would never commit an evil act.
