In the middle dialogues, particularly the Meno (86e4-87b2), Phaedo (99c5-d1; 99e5-100a7, 101d5-e1) and Republic (510c5-511e5), Plato develops (H). In this section, I shall elaborate on the main aspects of (H). It is worth to notice from the outset that Plato’s introduction of (H) does not entail that (E) stopped playing a substantive role in the middle dialogues. There is no single textual evidence supporting either that Plato disregarded (E) in the middle/later dialogues or that he opposed (E) to (H).
Plato introduced (H) for the first time in the Meno. At (80d-e), Socrates proposes a solution to a paradox advanced by Meno. The paradox might be reconstructed as follows: for any arbitrary subject matter a, either one knows a or one does not …show more content…
In the Meno, Socrates puts forward for testing a candidate proposition, namely, “virtue is teachable”. Meno himself supplied such proposition in the form of a question. Likewise, in the Republic, Socrates puts forward for testing the candidate proposition “justice in the soul is a matter of each part performing its own function”.
The next stage, in both dialogues, begins when a second proposition is examined, the truth of which is necessary for the truth of the original candidate proposition. In the Meno, this new proposition is that virtue is knowledge and is explicitly called a hypothesis (καὶ συγχώρησον ἐξ ὑποθέσεως αὐτὸ σκοπεῖσθαι, εἴτε διδακτόν ἐστιν εἴτε ὁπωσοῦν. Meno 86e) while in the Republic it is that the soul has the same three parts as the state.
Finally, in both Meno and Republic, Socrates identifies a further proposition whose truth is in turn necessary for the truth of the second proposition. In the Meno, this proposition is that virtue is something good while in the Republic it is the principle of opposites, explicitly called ὑποθέμενοι. At this point, in both dialogues, the positing of hypotheses stops.
It becomes clear that there is a common and essential feature of (H) in both the Meno and Republic: it explores the hypotheses made in relation to a non-hypothetical principle (ἀνυποθέτου
Plato introduced (H) for the first time in the Meno. At (80d-e), Socrates proposes a solution to a paradox advanced by Meno. The paradox might be reconstructed as follows: for any arbitrary subject matter a, either one knows a or one does not …show more content…
In the Meno, Socrates puts forward for testing a candidate proposition, namely, “virtue is teachable”. Meno himself supplied such proposition in the form of a question. Likewise, in the Republic, Socrates puts forward for testing the candidate proposition “justice in the soul is a matter of each part performing its own function”.
The next stage, in both dialogues, begins when a second proposition is examined, the truth of which is necessary for the truth of the original candidate proposition. In the Meno, this new proposition is that virtue is knowledge and is explicitly called a hypothesis (καὶ συγχώρησον ἐξ ὑποθέσεως αὐτὸ σκοπεῖσθαι, εἴτε διδακτόν ἐστιν εἴτε ὁπωσοῦν. Meno 86e) while in the Republic it is that the soul has the same three parts as the state.
Finally, in both Meno and Republic, Socrates identifies a further proposition whose truth is in turn necessary for the truth of the second proposition. In the Meno, this proposition is that virtue is something good while in the Republic it is the principle of opposites, explicitly called ὑποθέμενοι. At this point, in both dialogues, the positing of hypotheses stops.
It becomes clear that there is a common and essential feature of (H) in both the Meno and Republic: it explores the hypotheses made in relation to a non-hypothetical principle (ἀνυποθέτου