Meno

A central theme in Plato’s The Meno is virtue. It is approached through posing two questions: How does one acquire virtue? And what exactly is virtue? Meno poses the question “can virtue be taught?” (70a) Meno’s goal is to understand how one can acquire virtue, but Socrates inquires as to what virtue is. Meno attempts a few definitions of virtue, which Socrates deems inaccurate through the usage of the elenchus, where he dissects each suggestion to show Meno that it does not hold all the…

Plato’s Meno directs a majority of its attention towards what the meaning of what virtue truly is. Meno gives the readers many different meaning of what virtue could be, but Socrates always challenges his definitions. There are various reasons as to why Socrates contests Meno’s answers. Socrates is looking for an explanation of what virtue is that helps demonstrates what the idea of knowledge truly means, and that will show us what we do and do not know. Socrates first challenges Meno with the…

In Plato’s Meno, the central question in the dialogue is whether virtue can be taught. To figure this answer out, you would have to know what virtue is. Merriam -Webster dictionary states that virtue is a “conformity to a standard of right and a particular moral excellence.” Oxford dictionary states that virtue is “ a behavior showing high moral standards.” These and many other dictionaries have identical definitions showing us that there is a common ground on the definition of virtue. However,…

Coursework Part B What, according to Socrates, does the example of the slave boy in ‘Meno’ tell us about knowledge? What do you think that it shows? The example of the slave boy serves to demonstrate Socrates’s infamous claim that ‘all learning is recollection’. Around the time that Plato was writing, there was a common view among philosophers and academics that if you know what you are looking for, enquiry is unnecessary, and if you don’t know what you’re looking for, then enquiry is…

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…

Plato’s Meno is a dialogue between philosopher Socrates and politician Meno, in their attempts to disclose the definition of virtue and whether it can be taught or not. When Socrates inquires what virtue is, Meno is only able to give examples of virtue. First, he lists the different types of virtue that exist in men, women, and children; since people have differing tasks and activities given to them, they must all have differing respective virtues. In response, Socrates gives an example about…

In Plato’s “Meno”, Meno prompts Socrates to answer a question concerning virtue and whether or not it can be taught. Socrates approaches this question with another question, which requires Meno to first define virtue. He explains to Meno that his approach is wrong and in order to answer a question about the nature of something, we must first understand what that something is. Socrates and Meno then engage in a dialogue in which they inquire into two questions: what virtue is and whether it can…

In the Meno the question that arises is ‘is virtue teachable’ but instead that questions becomes ‘what is virtue?’ Socrates and Meno reach two different conclusions when answering this question: in the first part of the dialogue it is that virtue is knowledge and it can be taught; in the second, it is that it can only be acquired by a godly gift. Meno’s question whether virtue can be taught is important because it tells us what we must do: if there is some way of acquiring virtue, then we must…

In the dialogue “Meno”, Plato uses the characters, a slave, Meno, Anytus, and Socrates to answer the question, “What is virtue?” The slave and Meno did reach a state of Socratic aporia or confusion on this question. Even though they still do not know what virtue is, but at least they now know that they do not know. Where as Anytus, who enters toward the end of the dialogue had a minor role in trying to find the meaning of ‘virtue’. But his role did have significance in regard to Anytus’s…

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…