Nguyen 1
Randy Nguyen
Ancient Philosophy
Rev. Joseph W. Koterski, S.J.
10/4/17
In Plato’s Meno dialogue, Meno starts off by asking Socrates what is virtue and if it can be taught or not. However Socrates questions Meno if he knew what the definition of virtue was, and mentions that virtue can’t be taught if you don’t know what virtue really is. Throughout the dialogue Socrates and Meno are debating how is Virtue obtained in a person, and they come up with three possible reasons that virtue can be obtained within the human soul, that it can be taught, and that it is the gift from the Gods. However In my view I believe that there should be one common or specific definition for virtue, rather than many examples or definitions that don’t define virtue at all, and we see this being debated by Meno and Socrates throughout the whole dialogue. …show more content…
From the definition that Meno came up with on virtue, you can see that Socrates wasn’t really satisfied with it at all. For example Meno claimed that, “If you want a women’s virtue, that it easily described, she must be good housewife, careful with her stores and obedient to her husband. Then there is another virtue for another child, male or female and another for an old man, free or slave” (Greek Philosophy, 111). From this example Socrates understands what virtuous really is but not virtue in general. Socrates tends to question Meno’s knowledge on virtue, since Meno explains characteristics of virtuous rather than defining what virtue really
Randy Nguyen
Ancient Philosophy
Rev. Joseph W. Koterski, S.J.
10/4/17
In Plato’s Meno dialogue, Meno starts off by asking Socrates what is virtue and if it can be taught or not. However Socrates questions Meno if he knew what the definition of virtue was, and mentions that virtue can’t be taught if you don’t know what virtue really is. Throughout the dialogue Socrates and Meno are debating how is Virtue obtained in a person, and they come up with three possible reasons that virtue can be obtained within the human soul, that it can be taught, and that it is the gift from the Gods. However In my view I believe that there should be one common or specific definition for virtue, rather than many examples or definitions that don’t define virtue at all, and we see this being debated by Meno and Socrates throughout the whole dialogue. …show more content…
From the definition that Meno came up with on virtue, you can see that Socrates wasn’t really satisfied with it at all. For example Meno claimed that, “If you want a women’s virtue, that it easily described, she must be good housewife, careful with her stores and obedient to her husband. Then there is another virtue for another child, male or female and another for an old man, free or slave” (Greek Philosophy, 111). From this example Socrates understands what virtuous really is but not virtue in general. Socrates tends to question Meno’s knowledge on virtue, since Meno explains characteristics of virtuous rather than defining what virtue really