Meno´s Paradox Presented by Plato

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.

To draw a conclusion from Meno's paradox is that learning is impossible. This then indicates a feel of hopelessness in obtaining knowledge for oneself. Since Meno understands that he really doesn't actually know what virtue is, because he couldn't sufficiently define it at any point, he concludes that there is no possible or reasonable way for him to obtain it. But, it has to be false to come to the conclusion that learning is impossible since a person can constantly obtain some knowledge of things, making this argu...

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...just using his common sense. Socrates, though, is quick to claim that the slave is recollecting images he learned in the Underworld between two of his past lives. In this explanation, Socrates, provides an example that is rather good but could also go towards the direction of simple analysis and using common sense.

What began as Socrates’ process of inquiry, the impression that one cannot obtain knowledge about something without having a definition for it first, led to Meno’s Paradox, a seemingly intelligent argument that mindlessly concludes that knowledge of something can never actually and fully be obtained. Seeing that the paradox had this visibly defective conclusion, Plato disproves Meno’s third premise, and by its fault, premise four is restated as, you can, actually, discover something, which corresponds with Plato’s view of how a person obtains knowledge.