The Paradox Of Inquiry By Meno Summary

The passage Meno written by Plato is a dialogue between Socrates and Meno in which they inquire about the definition of the term virtue. From the beginning of the passage, Meno raises several definitions as to what virtue means however Socrates disproves of all the definitions. However, there comes a point in the dialogue in which Meno challenges the articulacy of Socrates’ depiction of virtue. This can be known as Meno’s Paradox as well as the paradox of inquiry.
The paradox of inquiry comes from one passage where Meno states In simple terms, from the dialogue above as well as the continuing dialogue that Meno’s paradox essentially says that why would we ask a question that we know the answer to? This does not enable us to gain any knowledge whatsoever simply because we already know the answer to it. …show more content…
Socrates then moves on to explain how it is possible that one has that sense of knowledge in them. Is it because he/she has always possessed it? For instance, in terms of the slave, how did he know the answers to all the questions he was being asked? It had to have been because either he had learned geometry already (which Meno responds and says he is certain that the slave has not learned geometry in this lifetime) therefore, according to Socrates it had to have been because he possessed it in a previous life perhaps. Then only, was he able to recover his knowledge in order to answer these questions. Furthermore, Socrates also uses this example to show us how the soul is immortal. He states that in order for the boy to have had knowledge on those questions, he must have had knowledge of geometry in his previous life, and because he was able to recall it through the questions, the knowledge that existed in his soul then, exists in it now and thus also proving that the soul is