Writing versus Speaking and the Quest for Self-Knowledge in Plato's 'Phaedrus

In Plato's Phaedrus Socrates tells his interlocutor Phaedrus about how writing is a copy of speech and thus inferior to speech. But it can be suggested that this is less of an indictment than it is a warning. Writing is a medium that induces the appearance of knowledge but not knowledge per se. The Platonic dialogue teaches in its form how writing can be useful and this is when it can induce the quest for self-discovery and self-knowledge onto its readers.