Socrates explains to Menos the condition of the human soul and it’s immortal state. He explains to Menos that because the human soul is immortal it has absorbed thousands of years of knowledge as well as the innate ideas we are born with. This knowledge is stored within the soul and remains there with every lifetime…
In the following I will summarize Socrates ' discussion with Meno: whether virtue can be taught. The argument begins as Meno asks Socrates whether virtue can be taught. Socrates answers by reminding Meno that Meno 's own countrymen, the Thessalians, have recently gained a reputation for wisdom, due chiefly to the rising fame of Gorgias. Gorgias, Socrates says, has taught people "To give a bold and grand answer to any question you may be asked, as experts are likely to do." Athenians, on the…
In the Meno and in the Phaedo, Socrates claims that the human soul exists before birth. In the Meno, Socrates makes this claim by claiming that learning is not the discovery of something new, but a recollection of something already known by the soul before we were born, but have only forgotten. Socrates’ claim that knowledge is recollection does not apply to all kinds of knowledge, only to the knowledge of abstract, unchanging entities (i.e., mathematics) that are not subject to the vagaries and…
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)…
In Plato’s dialogue, what virtue is and if virtue can be taught is the topic of discussion by Meno, Socrates and Anytus. The conversation begins with the dissection of what virtue is, a critical first step in order to answer later questions. It is concluded upon that virtue is wisdom and beneficial to us because it leads us to good. Therefore, if virtue helps to guide our soul and wisdom, then it must be knowledge. Knowledge is something that is teachable so it can be deducted that someone has…
It is difficult to understand what virtue truly is and if everyone is born with it and if it develops over time. Plato brings this question to the forefront in Protagoras and Meno. During a particular discussion, Socrates questions Protagoras on whether virtue can truthfully be taught. Protagoras then provides admirable evidence proving that virtue can be educated to all human beings. Protagoras does this by providing a number of examples backing up his beliefs. Through the use of punishment…
knowledge?” (np). Plato does believe that knowledge is possible, however he believes that knowledge is innate, meaning that individuals are born with it. Therefore knowledge is not necessarily obtained but “unlocked”. In Chapter 3 of Meno, Socrates argues against Meno that…
knowledgeable but does one know about things that they do not know about? The reoccurring theme of knowledge is displayed in Plato`s literary works such as, Meno, Apology and The Cave. In these literary works it exemplifies that although one may think that one has perfect knowledge one has much more knowledge to obtain. In Plato`s Meno, Meno expresses that when someone does something bad it is because that person did not have the exact knowledge to know it was bad. Socrates walks around Athens…
In Plato’s Meno, Socrates and Meno discuss the concept of virtue, where they realize neither of them have all the answers to what virtue is. Citation. According to dictionary.reference.com, virtue is “moral excellence; goodness; righteousness” and “conformity of one 's life and conduct to moral and ethical principles; uprightness; rectitude.” I agree with Socrates when he says, he cannot teach virtue because he doesn 't know what virtue is. To come up with a true definition of virtue, one must…
Mmeno from the perspective of a conversation between himself and Meno, along with a slave boy and Anytus, a character relevant to the conversation between Meno and Socrates. The dialogue begins with Meno’s question that sparks the rest of the discussion: how does one acquire virtue? Socrates continues by noting that he knows ‘literally nothing’ of virtue, but this does not stop him from carrying on the conversation. Socrates asks Meno what he thinks virtue is in the first place, and he answers…