Amathia. It is often translated as “ignorance,” as in the following two famous quotes from Socrates: “Wisdom alone, is the good for man, ignorance the only evil” (Euthydemus 281d) “There is, he said, only one good, that is, knowledge, and only one evil, that is, ignorance” (in Diogenes Laertius, II.31) But just as in the case of other ancient Greek words (like “eudaimonia,” about which I will write later this week) the common translation hardly does the job, and indeed often leads people to misunderstand the concept and quickly dismiss it as “obviously” false, or even incoherent. This topic comes up often in discussions of Stoicism, since the Stoics adopted Socrates’ view that “evil” is the result of “ignorance.” This, rather naturally, strikes most people as simply ludicrous. Of course people do evil in a calculated manner, and being educated is no guarantee at all against being a crook or worse, as plenty of historical and contemporary examples seem to show. I mean, seriously, can anyone maintain that the Nazi were just ignorant of what they were doing to the Jews? Yes, if instead of “ignorant” one uses the proper Greek term, amathia. I’ll get back to the Nazi in a bit, but first let me give you a better idea of what amathia means and how it is properly used. A good article about this, aptly entitled “Ignorance vs. Stupidity,” has been penned by Sherwood Belangia, a philosophy teacher at Georgia Regents University in Augusta, GA. I’m going to quote extensively from it.

Amathia. Li se souvan tradui kòm "inyorans," tankou nan de quotes sa yo pi popilè nan Socrates: "Sajès pou kont li, se bon pou nonm, inyorans sa ki mal la sèlman" (Euthydemus 281d) "Gen, li te di, yon sèl bon, se sa ki, konesans, ak yon sèl sa ki mal, se sa ki, inyorans" (nan Diogenes Laertius, II.31) Men, menm jan nan ka a nan lòt mo ansyen grèk (tankou "eudaimonia," sou ki mwen pral ekri pita nan semèn sa a) tradiksyon an komen diman fè travay la, ak tout bon souvan mennen moun yo konprann mal konsèp la epi byen vit ranvwaye li kòm "evidamman ”Fo, oswa menm enkoeran. Sijè sa a vini souvan nan diskisyon sou stoism, depi stoik yo te adopte opinyon Socrates ke "sa ki mal" se rezilta nan "inyorans." Sa a, olye natirèlman, frape pifò moun kòm tou senpleman ridikil. Natirèlman moun fè sa ki mal nan yon fason kalkile, epi yo te edike pa gen okenn garanti nan tout kont ke yo te yon vòlè oswa vin pi mal, menm jan anpil nan egzanp istorik ak kontanporen sanble yo montre. Mwen vle di, seryezman, ka nenpòt moun ki kenbe ke Nazi yo te jis inyoran nan sa yo te fè jwif yo? Wi, si olye pou yo "inyoran" yon sèl sèvi ak bon tèm nan grèk, amathia.Mwen pral jwenn tounen nan Nazi a nan yon ti jan, men premye kite m 'ba ou yon pi bon lide sou sa ki Amathia vle di ak ki jan li se byen itilize. Yon bon atik sou sa, justeman gen dwa "Inyorans kont estipidite," ki te ekri pa Sherwood Belangia, yon pwofesè filozofi nan Inivèsite Georgia Regents nan Augusta, GA. Mwen pral site anpil soti nan li.