Plato vs Buddha on Wisdom
Plato and Buddha on wisdom, side by side — 5 passages against 5, and what the disagreement is actually about.
Plato and Buddha both have a great deal to say about wisdom — 5 passages and 5 respectively in thinkr's library — and they do not say the same thing. Setting them side by side is more useful than reading either alone, because the disagreement shows you what each position is actually giving up.
Plato on wisdom
Student of Socrates, teacher of Aristotle, founder of the Academy. His dialogues — the Republic, Symposium, Phaedo — set the terms of Western metaphysics.
“Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.”
“Parmenides: It is impossible to conceive of many without one.”
“Parmenides: Just as things in a picture, when viewed from a distance, appear to be all in one and the same condition and alike.”
“The beginning in every task is the chief thing.”
“Socrates: The shoemaker, for example, uses a square tool, and a circular tool, and other tools for cutting?”
Buddha on wisdom
Siddhartha Gautama — the awakened one. His teachings on the Four Noble Truths and Eightfold Path form the foundation of Buddhism.
“Indeed, wisdom is born of meditation; without meditation wisdom is lost. Knowing this twofold path of gain and loss of wisdom, one should conduct oneself so that wisdom may increase.”
“The food of the wise, Mahāmati, is what is eaten by the Rishis; it does not consist of meat and blood.”
“If you have wisdom, you will be without greed or attachment. Always examine yourselves, and do not allow yourselves to have faults, for it is in this way that you will be able to obtain liberation within my Dharma.”
“You should increasingly benefit yourselves by acquiring hearing, contemplating , and cultivating wisdom. Even though a person only has flesh eyes, if he has illuminating wisdom, he has clear understanding.”
“Let my skin and sinews and bones dry up, together with all the flesh and blood of my body! I welcome it! But I will not move from this spot until I have attained the supreme and final wisdom.”
Where they part
Athens, c. 428–348 BCE and India, c. 5th–4th c. BCE are not the same world, and the difference is not only historical. Plato treats wisdom as something to be wise men speak because they have… — a matter of practice. Buddha approaches it from another side entirely. Neither is refuting the other; they are answering slightly different questions, and noticing which question you are actually asking is most of the work.