Can Meno: Can One Learn New Things?

Dylan, the senior lecturer of the Department of Philosophy at University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and author of several articles provides the argument that a satisfactory interpretation of human wisdom can be given in terms of “philosophia”.He confirms his analysis by its resolution of some enduring difficulties in the interpretation of Apology and also by providing the answer as to why Socrates continued to search for knowledge which he thought was impossible to attain. He tries to explain the concept of human wisdom with the help of Socrates sayings. Overall, Dylan provides a clear analysis with the proper tone and style.

Education is a life-altering event that involves becoming more open- minded. When one’s horizons are expanded they begin to understand and view more. The process of becoming knowledgeable through education can differ from the individual or situation. The overall experience as well can change the perception. Two passages, “Learning to Read” by Malcom X and “The Allegory of the Cave” by Plato both contain an individual who goes through the path of gaining wisdom. Although both passages contain similarities involving one going through an experience resulting in the enlightenment of education, there are several differences in how the acknowledgement is approached and the type of predicament the individual is in.

The Paradox of Inquiry is also known as Meno’s Paradox, there are a few interpretations to this dialogue which can appear to be quite challenging to understand. In the Paradox, Socrates and Meno are inquiring into the term “virtue” and what the definition of “virtue” might be. Socrates postulates three possible options of acquiring knowledge in the Meno; finding out for yourself, learning from someone else or by a divine inspiration. My thesis is that …….

The process of apprehending true knowledge is a task unfit for those who cannot overcome the concepts that the truth is associated with. This task of discovering knowledge tests an individual and their dedication to the process. However, this process is grueling and does not always yield the expected or desired result. According to philosophers, such as Socrates and Plato, humans are born with innate knowledge that becomes accessible through reasoning and life experiences. Plato’s The Allegory of the Cave describes of a group of people, in a cave, that have been shielded from society for their entire lives and were given an alternate and limited education. One man is forced out of the cave and into the light of the real world, where he

My curiosity is insatiable. My mom claims that once I was a few months old, I was never satisfied unless I was completely engaged in learning. Not much has changed in the past 18 years as I have spent my life in the pursuit of knowledge. For me, learning has always been about achieving a greater understanding of the world (from the life of Elizabeth II to the neurobiology of junk food addiction) and using that understanding to try to find my place. I believe that UChicago’s philosophy about learning—which prioritizes learning how to think, challenging assumptions, and enriching the world with knowledge—aligns perfectly with my own.

In Plato’s Meno, Socrates and Meno attempt to answer the question, ‘What is virtue?’ Through this discussion, Meno is lead to question whether they are even able to arrive at an answer, presenting us with the paradox of inquiry, ‘And how will you enquire, Socrates, into that which you do not know? What will you put forth as a subject of enquiry? And if you find what you want, how will you ever know that this is the thing which you did not know?’ (Meno 80d). Meno’s paradox states that one cannot gain knowledge through enquiry.

I will begin by defining the paradox of inquiry followed by the theory of recollection. Through Meno’s probing for an answer to whether virtue can be taught, he becomes exposed to the phenomena of the paradox of inquiry. Socrates explains this paradox to Meno through a series of steps: 1. One “cannot search for what he does not know.” 2. One “cannot search for what he knows” (Plato). After combining these conditions, inquiry is deemed impossible.

If the basis of ones theory is unsound there is no reason to accept what has been built up from it. If Socrates’ refutation of Meno’s Paradox is that knowledge is simply recollection, it is necessary that he prove the immortality of the soul independently. Since Socrates has failed to do so, then his theory cannot be accepted a sufficient way of overcoming the paradox.

It is thought that Meno's paradox is of critical importance both within Plato's thought and within the whole history of ideas. It's major importance is that for the first time on record, the possibility of achieving knowledge from the mind's own resources rather than from experience is articulated, demonstrated and seen as raising important philosophical questions.

Meno wants to know whether virtues can be learned or simply known.  Can they be

From the moment somebody is born they begin to observe and learn from their surroundings. How and what they choose to learn from shapes the type of human being they become. Although humans begin to learn things from a young age, it is not possible to learn everything that they need. Cicero explains this paradox as “What you know is of no use, what you do not know does great harm.” Michelle de Montaigne in The Essays: A Selection agrees with this claim by describing that learning is a continuous process that teaches people how to carry out their lives. To do so Montaigne believes that pupils should be excited to learn and learn through experience, while Francis Rabelais in Gargantua and Pantagruel expects people to learn through their teachers,

Socrates, in skepticism, began a search for those with a reputation of wisdom. After studying men and their knowledge, he reasoned that the only true wisdom consists in knowing that you know nothing. Although one may have extensive understanding in one area, there is way too much knowledge in the world to be contained by one man. Socrates stated, “I found that the men most in repute were all but the most foolish, and that some inferior men were really wiser and better” (Plato, 23). Those who believed that they knew it all could not be more ignorant, and those who admitted ignorance achieved the highest wisdom attainable on earth. Socrates accepted the idea that he, just like all men, contained very little or no wisdom at all. He was content with knowing this, and upon meeting others that lacked this philosophy, felt he was superior to them. He was unsure of the limitations the afterlife had on wisdom, but he was aware of it’s constraints on earth. This self awareness is what gifted him with the highest sense of enlightenment.

A perpetual conflict emanating throughout all mankind questions the significance of knowledge to human nature, regarding knowledge’s definition, acquisition, branches, and value. Major role models in the foundation of philosophy - specifically, in this essay, Plato and Aristotle - obsess over the significance of knowledge and its importance to and relationship with the development of human beings and their mindsets. Although Plato’s view on knowledge describes the internal predisposed essence of all Forms and the need for a superior being to extract them from the student, Aristotle’s outlook resides as more reliable and realistic due to his beliefs in the premise of knowledge in the sensation and perception, with continuing development in memory, experience, art and science, and, ultimately, true wisdom.

Through the examples of Oedipus and Socrates, the saying “the unexamined life is not worth living” proves true in three ways: first, to live a life full of discovery is a direct calling from God; second, an examined life leads to humbleness; and lastly, a life spent in investigation will constantly be in pursuit of truth.

As the great Socrates ones said, that by admiting that you dont know anything, so you can learn something that is how I discover the things that I want to know. The only way of knowing things is the way of becoming conscious of our unknowing, so we can learn. Awareness of the unknowing is the beginning of knowledge. Thus, we can always look for the truth, but the best is if never said that we found it. We may just think of the truth. We may think of what is the truth different in mathematics, the arts and ethics, but let’s never be sure. That is the only way how we are going to become bigger and better people.