Socrates Vs Meno Research Paper
What exacty is virtue and how does one describe it? In the dialog Meno, two men, Meno and Socrates, attempt to define virtue. The dialog begins with Meno asking Socrates if virtue can be taught. Personally, I do not imagine that virtue can be taught. Meno does not exactly know what virtue is but guesses that it is to possess power and to retain good things. Socrates argues that learning is impossible because a soul has already learned everything from passed lives and that learning is simply recollection from those past lives. The purpose of this paper is to discuss Meno’s paradox and to determine how Socrates resolves it.
Meno claims to know the meaning and characteristics of virtue. While Socrates, a curious and inquisitive man, says with all honesty “I am so far from knowing whether virtue can be taught or not that I do not even have any knowledge of what virtue itself is” (Meno, 71). Meno gives multiple suggestions of what virtue can be, but each suggestion made is disassembled by Socrates. Every suggestion to define virtue by Meno included material objects and the power to attain them, such as silver and gold. “I say that virtue is to desire beautiful …show more content…
It is actually recollection of everything which has already been learned in past lives, that is reincarnation. “We must, therefore, not believe that debater’s argument, for it would make us idle” (Meno, 81d). So as to prove what he is saying is true about recollection, Socrates uses Meno’s slave boy as an example. He asks the slave boy a series of questions regarding geometry with the knowledge that the slave boy has not been taught by anyone. The slave boy answers the questions accordingly with the correct answers. With this, Meno is convinced of the recollection theory and agrees that the boy has within himself the true opinions of the things he does not
Meno claims to know the meaning and characteristics of virtue. While Socrates, a curious and inquisitive man, says with all honesty “I am so far from knowing whether virtue can be taught or not that I do not even have any knowledge of what virtue itself is” (Meno, 71). Meno gives multiple suggestions of what virtue can be, but each suggestion made is disassembled by Socrates. Every suggestion to define virtue by Meno included material objects and the power to attain them, such as silver and gold. “I say that virtue is to desire beautiful …show more content…
It is actually recollection of everything which has already been learned in past lives, that is reincarnation. “We must, therefore, not believe that debater’s argument, for it would make us idle” (Meno, 81d). So as to prove what he is saying is true about recollection, Socrates uses Meno’s slave boy as an example. He asks the slave boy a series of questions regarding geometry with the knowledge that the slave boy has not been taught by anyone. The slave boy answers the questions accordingly with the correct answers. With this, Meno is convinced of the recollection theory and agrees that the boy has within himself the true opinions of the things he does not