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There is also a passage by Diogenes Laërtius in his work Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers written hundreds of years after Plato, where he lists, among the things that Socrates used to say: [12] " εἰδέναι μὲν μηδὲν πλὴν αὐτὸ τοῦτο εἰδέναι", or "that he knew nothing except that he knew that ...
The Latin maxim ignoramus et ignorabimus, meaning "we do not know and will not know", represents the idea that scientific knowledge is limited. It was popularized by Emil du Bois-Reymond , a German physiologist , in his 1872 address "Über die Grenzen des Naturerkennens" ("The Limits of Science").
Indeed, this is well-known. In fact, Gail Fine discusses that statement at length and still concludes that "it is better not to attribute" to Socrates the statement "I know that I know nohting." See Gail Fine, "Does Socrates Claim to Know that He Knows Nothing?", Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy vol. 35 (2008), pp. 49-88.
The uncertainty of sense data applies equally to the conclusions of reason, and therefore man must be content with probability which is sufficient as a practical guide. "We know nothing, not even our ignorance"; therefore the wise man will be content with an agnostic attitude. [62] Carneades of Cyrene, the most important of the Academic skeptics
Chrysostom: "Because He had said, I confess unto thee, Father, because thou hast hid these things from the wise, that you should not suppose that He thus thanks the Father as though He Himself was excluded from this power, He adds, All things are committed to me by my Father. Hearing the words are committed, do not admit suspicion of any thing ...
The first known reference of the exact phrase appeared in the Latin edition of Leviathan (1668; the English version had been published in 1651). This passage from Part 1 ("De Homine"), Chapter X ("De Potentia, Dignitate et Honore") occurs in a list of various attributes of man which constitute power; in this list, "sciences" or "the sciences" are given a minor position:
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Nicholas's De Docta Ignorantia ('Of Learned Ignorance') is an epistemological and metaphysical treatise. He maintains the finite human mind cannot fully know the divine, infinite mind ('the Maximum'). Nonetheless, he holds that the human intellect can become aware of its limitations in knowing God and thus attain "learned ignorance".