"Socrates, can virtue be taught?"1 The dialogue begins with Meno asking Socrates whether virtue can be taught. At the end of the Meno (86d-100b), Socrates attempts to answer the question. This question is prior to the division between opinion and knowledge and provides to unsettle both. Anytus participated in Socrates and Meno conversation about virtue. Socrates claims that if virtue is a kind of knowledge, then it can be learned. If it is something besides a kind of knowledge, it perceptibly cannot be taught.
Virtue is a particular moral excellence, a beneficial quality, or power of a thing, and masculine strength or courage. At the end of the Meno, Socrates states that the hypothesis, "if knowledge is virtue, it can be taught." 1 The method of hypothesis, I believe is if virtue is x, then it can be taught. Therefore, x = knowledge. Socrates progressively shows us that knowledge is recollection. Socrates suggests that if ones want to gain knowledge of the inspiration of virtue, there should be an educator who has an answer of what virtue is. The examination of this proposition is that "Is virtue knowledge? If so, there are teachers and pupils of it." However, it is impossible for him to find a teacher of virtue. The explanation that Socrates suddenly comes up with the idea of a teacher of virtue is that he said, "It would be reasonable to send him to those who practice the craft rather than those who do not." 1 Based on his reply, it is understandable, and logical that it is factual. There has to be a connoisseur who truthfully recognizes what virtue is. Nevertheless, at the end of Meno (89e-96c), Anytus explains that there are no teachers and learners of virtue.
As Meno mentions earlier in the text, there are many dissim...
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...elief changes. Thirdly, there is always reason behind knowledge, but not with mere belief. Lastly, knowledge is the result of instruction, whereas mere belief is not.
The dialogue between Socrates and Meno in the Meno argues about what virtue is and whether it can be taught. It seems that it is still not comprehensible about what virtue truly is. Nevertheless, it is obvious to articulate that there are no teachers or learners of virtue. Additionally, it is uneasy to recognize the concept between virtue and knowledge. If virtue is knowledge, and knowledge can be taught, why cannot virtue be taught? Is it because nobody knows exactly what virtue is? Thus, is virtue the knowledge then? From my point of view, Plato attempts to tell us the exploration of knowledge circuitously because there is no exact definition of virtue. It just depends on each human being.
Right after Socrates comments how they can both look for virtue, Meno gives him these 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 you did not know (80d)?” This is Meno’s paradox which explains the discovery of knowledge is impossible and if you do not know what you are learning, and that you cannot discover it either. Meno states in his first premise that you either know what knowledge is or you don’t, and whether you do know it or not, you cannot discover what that piece of knowledge is. This,
When discussing specific knowledge, it is often hard to pin down an exact definition of what it is you are discussing. Often a concept or word will get thrown around so often that it will begin to be taken for granted and when pressed, a person may struggle to pin down specifically what it is they mean. Realizing this, Socrates often went out and attempted to fix these kinds of problems and find out what people actually knew, compared to what they just thought they knew. In the dialogues Euthyphro and Meno, Socrates attempts to pin down definitions for piety and virtue, respectively. In doing so, we are shown that the thinkers in question struggle to define these terms, and attempt to do so in vague terms that may vary heavily under different circumstances. What Socrates is attempting to find is one definitive definition of piety and virtue, what is called his One Form Requirement. Rather than defining something by classifying different parts that make it up, Socrates maintains the belief that piety and virtue both can be simplified into one specific form that describes exactly what makes all F actions F.
...ledge above everything else, Socrates put an emphasis on the quality of knowledge and the quality of teaching thereafter. To this day, the seeking of knowledge and the eventual passing it on are revered tasks. It is said that teachers are among the wisest people on the land not only for their knowledge but their experience in handling different personalities. They are also respected for their grasp of the facts of life and what goes on around us. They explain life and make it worth living. No wonder Socrates said, “The unexplained life is not worth living” (Brisson 90).
The critical argument, known as Meno's Paradox, as presented in Plato's “Meno”, questions the very basis of Socrates method of arriving at knowledge of unknown things through inquiry. If Socrates truly wants to gain knowledge of what no one else knows, then the content of that “unknown” thing will produce absolutely nothing. The paradox bases itself in stating that humans can never learn anything that they don't already obtain knowledge of. As identified by Meno, the paradox is this: "And how are you going to inquire about it, Socrates, when you do not at all know what it is? For what sort of thing, from among the ones you do not know, will you take as the object of your inquiry? And even if you do happen to bump right into it, how are you going to know that It is the thing you did not know?” By saying this, Meno proposes that since Socrates does not really know what virtue is, he cannot find it because he would not recognize it even if he did. Each time Meno offers an explanation of the term, Socrates rejects them immediately because they are, in his eyes, inadequate. Socrates delivers an excellent theory, along with an example, to criticize this paradox and provide for the opportunity of humans achieving knowledge.
Socrates, in method true to form, twists the question and re-poses it to Meno to see if Meno can answer it all on his own. Meno lists what he thinks are virtuous qualities, and is content at that simple definition. Socrates then says: "I seem to be in luck, Meno, while I am looking for one virtue, I have found you to have a whole swarm of them."Meno's frustration begins to set in. He tries theatrical metaphor to define virtue, as well as relating to physical philosophy and philosophers such as Empedocles.Meno at this point gives up and hands the philosophy to Socrates. Socrates presents Meno with a paradox:"....He cannot search for what (a debater) knows- since he knows it, there is no need to search- nor for what he does not know, for he does not know what to look for.
The discussion of Plato’s theory of recollection evolved from a single question, “What is virtue?” When questioning Meno on the single definition of virtue, Plato was never satisfied. He never accepted Meno’s answers because Meno gave “virtuous” definitions, not “virtue’s” definition. For example, Meno claimed, “if you want a woman’s virtue, that is easily described. She must be a good housewife, careful with her stores and obedient to her husband. Then there is another virtue for a child, male or female, and another for an old man, free or slave” (Greek Philosophy, 111). All of these are examples of how a person’s role becomes virtuous but never defines what virtue really is. Plato questions Meno’s self-knowledge of virtue, but Meno expounds virtuous characteristics rather than giving a definition of virtue. This presents a problem because if Meno does not know what virtue really is, then he cannot apply which characteristics associate with virtue and which do not. When Plato asks, “Does anyone know what a part of virtue is, without knowing the whole?” (Greek Philosophy, 119), Meno agrees this is simply impossible. This presents a logical argument against Meno’s definition(s) of virtue.
In “Apology” by Plato, Socrates stated, “… there are plenty of persons, as soon as enough discover, who think that they know anything, but really know little or nothing” (Plato 32). In other words, humans are imperfect and this explains the limited nature of human knowing. Even when we consider things for a while and in our best operation, we can still make mistakes because we are imperfect. At the same time, the student must know his/her purpose for doing something. “God orders me to fulfill the philosopher’s mission of searching into myself and other men….” (Plato 35), stated Socrates. He knows that his job was to teach the young men to follow his footsteps and live a good and virtuous life. Just like Socrates, our modern education system should be concerned with making sure that students are learning what is truly important. There will be different levels of education as one goes through his or her life cycle. The modern model represents the way of growing through education and continues to change. If one is motivated, he or she will be successful in his or her life and become a better educated person. In the “Apology,” Socrates visited the politicians, poets and artisans to see which group was wiser than him. He realized that all three groups lacked knowledge in some type of way. Socrates stated that the politician “knows nothing, and thinks that he knows” (Plato 31). Both the
The Meno is another story written by Plato in which Socrates uses his method of inquiry on the youth of Athens. The story illustrates how successful the Socratic method is in terms of helping the city of Athens by creating a more educated and ethical community. The story’s dialogue begins with Meno asking Socrates if virtue can be taught, and Socrates responds by saying “I myself, Meno, am as poor as my fellow citizens in this matter, and I blame myself for my complete ignorance about virtue” implying that he does not know the true definition of virtue, nor does anyone else, making it impossible to teach. Meno claims that virtue is different for different people based on things such as sex or age, and Socrates rejects this idea. Meno then proposes that virtue is the desire for good ...
Meno is very surprised at Socrates’s answer, therefore he decides to explain the definition to Socrates. On his first attempt, Meno gives a list of all the virtues that men and women have. Socrates points out that it is just a list of various virtue but it does not define what virtue is. He makes reference of Meno’s information is like a swarm of bees. There may be different types of bee but we do not know the essence that makes them a bee. On Meno’s second attempt, he defines virtue as the power to rule over people. Socrates asks Meno to add “justly” in the phrase “to rule over people.” He then asks Meno if justice is virtue or a virtue. The example here is that roundness is a shape but not shape itself. There are many other shapes. Same concept applies to virtue. Justice is a virtue but there are many other virtues. Meno does not give up, he attempts to explain the third time. This time, he says that virtue is to desire beautiful things and power to have them. Those beautiful things are wealth, health and fame. Once again, Meno’s answer is just a composite of many things put together. It does not give the definition. Meno asks Socrates to answer
In Plato’s Meno, the main question in the dialogue is whether virtue can be taught. In order to figure this answer out, you would have to know what virtue is. Merriam-Webster dictionary states the virtue is a conformity to a standard of right and a particular moral excellence. Oxford dictionaries states that virtue is a behavior showing high moral standards. These and many other dictionaries have similar definitions showing us that there is common ground on the definition of virtue. However this was not a simple task in the platonic dialogue Meno. The story Meno discovers that there is no definite definition to what is virtue? Virtue can be many things.
Virtue is very tough to define, as evidenced in the difficulty that Socrates, Nicias, and Laches have with trying to define both courage and virtue. In Socrates’ arguments with Nicias, he does seem to indicate that Nicias stumbled into a possible definition of virtue. Socrates says in regards to what Nicias thought was that, “Courage is the knowledge not just of the fearful and the hopeful, but in your [Nicias’] opinion, it would be the knowledge of practically all goods and evils put together” (Laches and Charmides, 199D). However, after Nicias agrees that this is not the definition of courage that Socrates and Nicias are searching for, Socrates asks if “[Does] a man with this kind of knowledge seem to depart from virtue in any respect” (Laches and Charmides, 199D)? The simple answer to this question is no. The definition that was suggested by Socrates for the definition of courage has become the definition of virtue. “Then the thing you are now talking about, Nicias, would seem not be a part of virtue but rather virtue entire” (Laches and Charmides, 199E). To summarize, for a person to be virtuous, he or she must have knowledge of all goods and evils...
Socrates challenges Protagoras if virtue is really something that can be taught and he continues to argue with Protagoras because he simply wants to understand the truth about virtue. He knows that Protagoras has the reputation as being the best and he wants to know the answer. Socrates wants to know if all parts of virtue are separate and distinct or all one and the same. As the argument progresses Protagoras does not give Socrates clear answers to his questions, and the conversation is not going where Socrates wished it would. Socrates continued to ask Protagoras questions, that was until Protagoras could no longer answer the questions, he gave up and realized that in the argument he turned into the answerer. This is probably due to the fact that Socrates wanted the answers, and who else go to for those answers than
I totally agree that Socrates found it important to research about life’s morality and not just think the same way others do. That is a way of proving the knowledge of men. Ones sitting quiet in the corner usually have more knowledge than others that talk so much about what they know. Many men with a high position in life do not always have the most knowledge.
In my opinion, Plato’s idea that virtue can’t be taught is correct. But can one learn to be virtuous? One can know what virtuousness is comprised of but that doesn’t necessarily mean that one will be virtuous. This indicates
In this paper, I will explain and critique Plato’s view of reality. I will argue that Plato’s argument is problematic because it fall’s victim to numerous fallacies, the most famous of course being the third man problem. First I will explain a problem in Plato’s theory. Finally I will suggest an alternative to Plato’s theory. This issue is important because the question of reality has plagued philosophy since its beginning, which many people feel has still never been satisfactorily answered.