From the book
Charmides
Plato · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The word“Omniscience” is a modern convenient headword for the hypothetical person who knows all future, past and present things and is ignorant of nothing (174a).
- In the CharmidesSocrates introduces the person after Critias has included a prophet among those who live knowledgeably and well.
- In this edition“Let us suppose there is such a man” prevents the complete-knower description from being mistaken for Plato's claim that one exists.
- A place to readThe prophet enlarged into a hypothetical knower of all times.
Meaning
“Omniscience” is a modern convenient headword for the hypothetical person who knows all future, past and present things and is ignorant of nothing (174a). No single Greek noun corresponding to this English title is used here. The text expresses completeness by a sequence of temporal objects and a negative qualification.
Use in the book
Socrates introduces the person after Critias has included a prophet among those who live knowledgeably and well. The new hypothesis adds all past and present things to knowledge of the future, then stipulates ignorance of nothing. It maximizes epistemic extent so that Critias cannot propose someone still more knowledgeable (174a).
The next question does the philosophical work: which of this person's knowledges makes him happy? Critias denies that they all contribute alike, rejects draughts and calculation, gives health a stronger claim, and finally names good and bad. The sequence separates quantity of known material from the particular content that accounts for benefit.
The example is not an argument for the actual possibility of a human omniscient knower, nor a theology of divine omniscience. It is explicitly posited for inquiry. One interpretive challenge is whether knowing all things must already include normative truth; the dialogue's next question effectively distinguishes that component within the imagined totality rather than assuming that total extent explains its practical importance.
Places to read
Translation in this edition
“Let us suppose there is such a man” prevents the complete-knower description from being mistaken for Plato's claim that one exists. “Everything that has happened” and “what is now” are distinct temporal additions, not merely synonyms for foreknowledge.