socrates claims to not know anything, but he firmly believes that it is good and necessary for him to?

Question

exhort others to care for their souls. How can he believe that he knows nothing, but also strongly believe that his course of action is best?

no, i did not quote anything, i am just asking a question, not quoting

Answer 1

you got the quote wrong
the more you know the more you realise how little you know

so the very wise old man will say that because he knows everything there is to know in fact he now knows that he still knows nothing ,because there is so much more to know.

Answer 2

He can use sort of a Pascal's wager[1]"
Say Socrates is wrong and it does not matter what people do to their souls -- then there is nothing it taking extra care of your soul -- the result is the same.
Say Socrates is right then it DOES matter. Not caring for your soul means damnation, while caring for your soul will get you eternal bliss.
So on average it pays to care about your soul.

Answer 3

He meant that there is not an absoluteness in this life. Athenians
used to ask him for advices about what to do in various situations
and he felt sad as a messiah. So he advised them to think for themselves. At that time they used to refer to the soul; soul being themselves. Socrates claimed that he everyday was learning a bit of knowledge, so not knowing all in his life.-

Ciao............John-John.

Answer 4

He would be very unintelligent to claim that he did know anything. You can never really know anything, so for him to admit that he knows nothing makes him very intelligent. That's what real knowledge is.
Anybody can believe something though.

Answer 5

Because he earnestly pursues knowledge.

I know nothing but i pursue knowledge all the time.

Answer 6

"All i know is that i don't know nothin'," -Operation Ivy

Answer 7

I don't know...