Socratic ethics is a useful heuristic model for understanding the ethical presuppositions behind the variegated advice and observations in the book of Proverbs. The ethics of both rest on three principles: (1) virtue is knowledge; (2) no one does wrong willingly; and (3) all virtues are one. Socrates states these principles; Proverbs assumes them. Underlying these principles is the primary axiom of sapiential ethics, namely that the exercise of the human mind is the necessary and sufficient condition of right and successful behavior. 1. THE PRIMARY AXIOM
