Meno Essay

The central theme of one of Plato’s Five Dialogues, Meno, is to find an answer to the question, “can virtue be taught?” Before answering this question for Meno, Socrates first wants to define virtue because he does not know how one can decide if something can be taught, when one does not technically know what that thing is. Throughout their discussion, they decide on various definitions of virtue, but never decide on one that actually makes sense. The dialogue concludes with Socrates revealing that

In Plato’s Meno, Socrates states that the theory of recollection is that all the knowledge a person has is known from previous experience. In simple terms, this means that instead of learning and acquiring knowledge to answer a question or state a fact, they are simply just remembering something that they already knew Socrates is presented as a philosophical pilot, asking questions in order to prod the slave boy into recalling the information that he in return truly had no prior connection with.

In Plato’s Meno, I propose to trisect Socrates’ dialogue with the slave boy as follows. Socrates initially asks him by what means he could double the area of a square. At first glance, the slave boy is under the false belief that to double a square’s area one must correspondingly make the square’s sides ‘twice the size’ (82e). Secondly, the slave boy subsequently experiences ‘Aporia’ whereby he starts to doubt himself as uncertainty kicks in. In struggling to find his solution as is made apparent

In Plato’s Meno, Socrates purposefully uses ignorance and irony to insufficiently define excellence for Meno. Initially, Meno argues a particular definition, which is a universally inconsistent proof, is sufficient to define excellence. However, Socrates asserts that the definition of excellence must be consistent and applicable to all individuals, by comparing individuals in a society to bees in a colony. Socrates demonstrates the failure of a particular proof to define all constituents of a group

In the Meno, Plato tries to define virtue (arete), meaning virtue in general and not just particular virtues like justice or temperance, by going over three central philosophical questions regarding this topic which are if it’s taught or inborn, if we can know it before actually undergoing it, and finally the distinction between having the knowledge of it and having the exact correct belief of it. While searching for the truth, Meno challenges the possibility of inquiry by asking those questions

In Plato’s Meno, the character Meno proposes several definitions of virtue, all of which Socrates refutes. When Socrates invites Meno to examine and seek what virtue is together, Meno questions, “How will you look for it, Socrates, when you do not know at all what it is? How will you aim to search for something you do not know at all? If you should meet with it, how will you know that this is the thing that you did not know?” (Meno, 80d). This is known as the Debater’s Paradox: A man cannot search

The conflict in Plato’s The Allegory of the Cave and Meno creates inquisitive dialogue digging deep into the meaning of knowledge. Plato’s philosophical questions challenge what the actual definition of knowledge is and how it is attained. In Meno, he justifies the possibility for one’s mind to uncover knowledge. He presents a theory on how our minds obtain knowledge. The Allegory of the Cave is a good example of the way people think. It shows how people are afraid of change and the unknown. Plato’s

On the journey to Larissa, Socrates and Meno talk about the guide and the route that they take to get there. Meno is concerned until Socrates asks if the guide belief he knows where he is going and if it is any different than knowing where you are going to go since the act of believing and knowing go hand and hand. A guide who memorized the directions to the city would have had knowledge because they also would carry the belief although they wouldn't have more or less knowledge than a guide who did

McIntyre Meno’s Paradox Meno and Socrates, found themselves in a debate over virtue. The men were trying to uncover the truth about how one acquires virtue; is it taught? Is it practiced? Or is it inborn? When Socrates proposes that they try to define virtue itself, because they do not know what it is to begin with, the men reach a disagreement. Both Socrates and Meno had very different views about how one acquires knowledge about virtue and all other things as well. Meno proposes a view, or a paradox

Knowledge and Virtue: Evaluation of a Conversation between Meno and Socrates Knowledge is a lofty subject; it is hard to become aware of how thoughts spontaneously run through microscopic structures inside human heads. Throughout Socrates and Meno’s conversation, they seemed to struggle in defining how people acquire knowledge. What was troubling for me in the reading was the amount of contradiction between the various points of view expressed. Most of the contradiction came through the conversation