On theme with this shift, the men are arguing about whether is it good for a man to be take what he wants regardless of whether it is just or not. Polus and Gorgias are, for all intense and purposes, on the same side of the arguments, and, as such, Polus often steps up to continue the arguing without Gorgias chiming in. Such is true for the sections 468e6-470c3 of Gorgias, which begins with Socrates and Polus locked in a heated discussion about whether or not one should envy the man who was doing whatever he pleases, whether it be killing or stealing or anything else. Polus asserts that he is enviable as he is getting whatever he wants, while Socrates argues that one should actually pity this man as he is “unenviable” and “wretched” (469a3-4). As per usual, Polus is flabbergasted with Socrates’ position and goes to question him further.…
1. “The scent of sacred tobacco rising from the earth comes gloriously to his nostrils” (30) and makes him happy. But in school, it is proven that tobacco and other drugs are bad for the human health. It destroys life and its quality. First, there is always a little of bad in all the good.…
The Meno, although not for certain, is thought to be one of Plato's earliest dialogues. The dialogue opens with Meno asking Socrates whether virtue can be imparted, or taught, with the two men dwelling on this question (alongside more central questions of what virtue is) for the entirety of the text. Within the text, Socrates tries to dichotomize an ethical term by inquisitively questioning an individual who believes to know the term's denotation, but ultimately determines that neither he nor the "expert" really know what the word means.…
Socrates argued that no man knowingly desires "evil things." (In the moral sense.) So that the desire for "good" is common in everyone. Menos mentions that good things must be obtained in a good way. (Ex. If wealth is obtained in a just way=hard work) But Socrates again argues that "Virtue must be obtained in a virtuous way," creating a circular argument.…
The power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion is the official definition of free will. With free will, God gave us the choice to do whatever we want. With the devil tempting us, we are more inclined to choose evil over bad, but with God’s influence we choose good. Plus if humans were naturally evil everything we know about God is a lie. There are people who believe that the bible states that humans are born evil, however, it does not mentions the word evil. The bible states that humans are all born with original sin, the tendency to sin innate in all human beings, held to be inherited from Adam in consequence of the Fall. Because of free will and moral standards we choose what we know is right, deep in our hearts, human beings fear God ,therefore, it is in our nature to please…
First of all, Meno demonstrates Socrates's effort to guide his interlocutor to achieve thorough understanding of virtue and what his interlocutor actually received. Socrates's questioner is Meno, who is a young man trying to engage in unethical military and political affairs. Very well absorbed in his aristocratic origin, Meno also has a fierce pride in the ideas on virtue that he acquired from Gorgias, a sophist who focuses on the teaching of rhetoric and the external representation of knowledge. Meno started the conversation with a burning question: "Can you tell me, Socrates, can virtue be taught?" (Meno, 70a)…
If Meno were a Know-It-All on the subject of virtue, according to Meno’s paradox, Socrates’ questions should not have impacted him at all, and yet he seems impacted. The possibility that Meno superficially, not totally, understands the concept of virtue, is not a possibility for which Meno’s paradox allows. Socrates’ questions, then, move Meno from confident knowledge to a recognition of his own limitations, a movement which should not have been possible were Meno’s paradox valid. Additionally, Meno’s continued participation in the dialogue suggests an intellectual surrender of his paradox since his participation implies an investment in adding to his own…
Meno claims to know the meaning and characteristics of virtue. While Socrates, a curious and inquisitive man, says with all honesty “I am so far from knowing whether virtue can be taught or not that I do not even have any knowledge of what virtue itself is” (Meno, 71). Meno gives multiple suggestions of what virtue can be, but each suggestion made is disassembled by Socrates. Every suggestion to define virtue by Meno included material objects and the power to attain them, such as silver and gold. “I say that virtue is to desire beautiful…
Why do people have bad relationships? And how do people have good relationships? Relationships to me does not all have to be about marriage or couples. You have friend relationships, Healthy relationships, spiritual relationships, sexual relationships and more. But, today I am here to speak on them all. Friend relationships can either go bad or good. This generation today people cannot even be friends for just a whole month, because there is always some he say, she say mess just. But, to stop all of this us teens today must learn how to step up to the plate and stop thinking that arguing, exposing on social media, and thinking that fighting is always going to solve our problems. A good relationship is built on trust, communication, and honesty.…
As Meno begins his questionnaire, Socrates asks Meno to reiterate Gorgias’ definition of virtue. He proudly defines virtue as the ability for a man and a women to complete their rightful duties and continues on my saying that virtues is different for all. Socrates immediately rejects this idea by explaining to Meno that he is describing the different kinds…
Meno begins his quest to have Socrates explain virtue by nature by stating that having beautiful things is to have virtue. “So I say that virtue is to desire beautiful things and have the power to acquire them” (77b). To help him to understand that this statement is not complete, Socrates inquires about specific characteristics that might comprise having something beautiful. These characteristics include wealth, a position of honor, justice, and the pursuit of happiness. Only in perfect combination to all of these specific characteristics assert “virtue as a whole” (77a)…
I believe the overall topic of Meno was to zero-in to the brass tacks of virtue. What is a virtue? And how can one be virtuous? And so Meno describes to Socrates what virtue is to him. He took an example of a man, who knows how to administer the state, “and in the administration of it to benefit his friends and harm his enemies; and he must also be careful not to suffer harm himself” (Plato, 196). In stating them, Socrates compliments him for giving him a swarm of definitions of what a virtue is. Thus, among these swarms of the definition given by Meno what is their common nature? It seems that Meno cannot arrive at the answer. Our question then for Socrates is this: if he cannot adequately define virtue himself, what are the variables that make it…
The history of tobacco shows nothing but the positives but tobacco is actually harmful and potentially deadly. Tobacco was discovered by the American Indians and believed tobacco to be more than it actually was. It was used in many ways and all of them was thought to be totally positive effects, not knowing how harmful it really was. They had no idea that tobacco caused lung disease, buerger's diseases and was also highly addictive. It was not until now that the world started to realize the major negative effects it has on the human body. It's so bad that the government had to step in and make laws like ,you have to be 21 and over to smoke, no smoking in public places and no more advertising it to keep people safe from its harmful effects.…
Have you ever thought about what smoking does to you and the people around you? Have you ever thought of why it isn’t legal for you to smoke it at a certain age and isn’t a tolerated action? Once there was a young boy, who smoked when he was young and he grew up smoking a pack of cigarettes every day. Now that guy lives on hospital machines and asthma inhalers because the cigarettes have caused him to have lung failure and cancer. It has caused him to live a sad life forever only because he thought it was “cool”. The kid didn’t realize and know what the long term effects until he have experienced it.…
The first time I heard a speech about the effects of smoking, I was in fifth grade. I well remember Deputy Becerra talking about the warnings against smoking. The last words she clearly spoke, were, “this cigarette in my hand is a death sentence”. After the presentation, for days, I kept contemplating on the subject and the effects. I asked myself, why would anybody be tempted or drawn to light up that cigarette? It did not make any sense to me. Five years later, at the age of fifteen, I tried my first cigarette.…