ABSTRACT
Socrates occasionally made this point in his familiar remark that he knew enough to know that he knew nothing. The uncertainty in question is of a simple and inexcusable kind: uncertainty about obtainable information that has in fact not been obtained. The case was ultimately tried in two courts. The court of the first instance faltered in the face of this uncertainty, and confined itself to pronouncing Miss Chaplin morally in the right. The principle of uncertainty requires exactly the opposite procedure: dealing again with the very problems that have been dealt with before by others. Every theory is an invitation to criticism and refutation. Where this lively contest gives way to fence building, scientific progress ceases. Many scholars may dislike seeing their research permanently exposed to sharp criticism from their colleagues.
