The Importance Of Virtue In Meno

Every person has qualities that define their character; it is what dictates how they see and experience the world. For example, if someone has good character-defining qualities, they are generally viewed as a good person; the same goes for bad qualities with bad people. These qualities are known as virtue, and they are ingrained in people from the exact minute they begin to process the world. How exactly does one gain virtue, though? Is a person born with virtue, or are they taught it? Is virtue even teachable? This question is pondered by Socrates in Plato’s early dialogues. In this paper, I will explain why Socrates thinks virtue is not teachable, using examples from Meno and Protagoras. Afterwards, I will explain why I believe that virtue

In Meno, the titular character and Socrates consider this very question. To truly answer whether virtue is teachable or not, one needs to consider what knowledge is, and what it means to be taught something. Socrates attempts to prove this by asking a slave about the size of a square. When the slave answers confidently but incorrectly, Socrates implores him to look for another solution, leaving the boy baffled. Finally, the boy answers again with the same confidence he had in the beginning. This proves what Socrates assumed about what it meant to be taught something, which was that it was less being taught something new, and more being reminded about something that the person already knew. The boy had no previous lessons in mathematics, yet Socrates technically did not teach him anything; he only asked questions, and it was the boy’s own brainpower that led him to the answers. As such, Socrates turns this method onto Meno, a man who once claimed “[he has] made many speeches about virtue before large audiences on a thousand occasions” but now “[he] cannot even say what it is” (80b3-b5). Like the boy and the size of the square, Socrates is turning this into a method of discovery, except Meno is the boy, and the definition of virtue is the size of the