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 virtue is and whether or not it can be taught. However, Socrates ask Meno if he knows t the definition of virtue, and mentions that virtue cannot be taught if you do not know what virtue really is. Throughout the dialogue, Socrates and Meno mention that virtue is attained in a person. They come up with three possible reasons that virtue can be achieved within the human soul, that it can be taught, …show more content…
Meno believes that management is part of virtue, and that the virtue of a woman is to order a household and that the virtue of a man is to order a state or be in charge of his family. From this we see that everyone who has a different role in life whether the person is a kid or an adult that is single or married with a family. Socrates says “ Do you imply that there are some that desire bad things, and others good? Don’t you think, my dear fellow, that all desire good things?” (Plato, Meno p.31). From this you can see that virtue can be found in everything that is good or …show more content…
The reason behind this is that good things are linked with wisdom. This shows that virtue is only virtue if there is wisdom within it. Socrates also mentions, “Then is there is something good, and yet separated from knowledge, possibly virtue would not be a knowledge, but if there is no good which knowledge, but if there is no good which knowledge does not contain, it would be a right notion to suspect that it is a knowledge.” (Plato, Meno p.50-51). From this you can see that knowledge plays a big role with virtue and if it can be taught or not depends highly on the person. That is why Socrates wants to discover what virtue really is, rather than how each person receives virtue in a different