Ignorance The Root And Stem Of

From Laws Book III (689b), Plato's last and longest dialogue, written in old age. In the Laws — unlike the Republic — Plato abandons the ideal city ruled by philosophers and designs a "second-best" city governed by detailed law. He argues here that ignorance of what is truly good, bad, and indifferent is the deepest source of civic and personal corruption, more fundamental than poverty or political disorder. The claim connects to the Socratic thesis (which Plato never entirely abandoned) that wrongdoing is always a form of ignorance.