My most controversial claim is this: virtue is knowledge, and no one does wrong willingly. If you truly understood that something was bad for you—really understood it, not just intellectually but in your soul—you would not do it.

When someone acts badly, it is because they are ignorant of the true good. The thief thinks wealth will make him happy; if he truly understood that injustice corrupts the soul, he would not steal. The addict thinks pleasure is the good; if he truly grasped what the good life is, he would not destroy himself.

This means that moral education is possible. Evil is not a defect of will but a defect of understanding. To make people better, we must help them see clearly. This is why philosophy matters—it is not merely intellectual exercise but the path to becoming a good person.