Preview

Response To The Meno

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
594 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Response To The Meno
Christopher Nowlin
Professor James Ross
Lone Star College System
PHIL – 2306
29 August 2015

Meno Response Paper 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. "Is virtue something that can be taught? Or does it come by practice? Or is it neither teaching

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    In Patching Out Virtue, “The first is to champion the virtue tradition against Christian moral quietism and modern deontological ethics. The second is to facilitate reconciliation between Augustinian and Emersonian virtue” (Foster 688).…

    • 80 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    To what extent do modern virtue ethics address the weaknesses of Aristotle’s teaching on virtues? (35)…

    • 1107 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Socrates’ unique wisdom can be likened to that of a midwife, as stated in Theaetetus. In Meno, Socrates discusses the definition of virtue with the titular character. Socrates challenges Meno to define virtue, and Meno states that each demographic has a different virtue, for example, “a man’s virtue: to take part in the city’s affairs capably…”(Meno, 71e-72a) or “there is a different…

    • 984 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Meno's paradox is one of Plato's many dialogues. It is an attempt to discover the notion of general virtue. (Whether it can be taught, it is learned, acquired, or just is…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Interlocutor Vs Meno

    • 1706 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Secondly, Meno formulates a broad and imperfect definition. He regards virtue as the acquisition of beautiful things in the context of a type of virtue - justice. Thirdly, Meno failed to look, which uncovers his dangerous hold of self-esteem. He is only concerned with a specific and corollary question: "can virtue be taught?” rather than searching for the answer to the original and ultimate question: "what is virtue?”…

    • 1706 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It is true that each author speaks virtues that are common to both the medieval and ancient times. Aristotle being so cunning during his era introduces virtue or excellence consisting of two parts moral and intellectual which can be taught, it is not possible to change what is naturally imprinted. Moral education is tangible through habits and experiences. Virtue can be achieved, not easily; it takes more than one characteristic to meet it.…

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Meno Paradox

    • 1450 Words
    • 6 Pages

    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…

    • 1450 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Meno is the literary work done by Socrates the main theme in this dialogue/story is what is virtue. The dialogue between Meno and Socrates gives insight and question on what it is. It begins with Meno telling Socrates that he has been under the spell of Socrates and that he did not know what virtue was. This is what started the whole conversation between the boy, Meno, and Socrates. First off Socrates asks Meno what virtue is Meno listed examples about virtue but he did not the exact definition. Instead Socrates uses an analogy with the priestess and priests of who believe that people have an immortal soul. He also then uses the torpedo fish, which is a metaphor for when people are “paralyzed” by for being confused and having inconsistent.…

    • 249 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Socrates has “numbed” Meno’s mind and essentially made him feel stupid. “In response to Meno, Socrates says he is willing to accept the torpedo-fish simile so long as it is true that the torpedo fish numbs not only other fish but also itself. “I myself do not have the answer when I perplex others,” he…

    • 1449 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    What exacty is virtue and how does one describe it? In the dialog Meno, two men, Meno and Socrates, attempt to define virtue. The dialog begins with Meno asking Socrates if virtue can be taught. Personally, I do not imagine that virtue can be taught. Meno does not exactly know what virtue is but guesses that it is to possess power and to retain good things. Socrates argues that learning is impossible because a soul has already learned everything from passed lives and that learning is simply recollection from those past lives. The purpose of this paper is to discuss Meno’s paradox and to determine how Socrates resolves it.…

    • 823 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Law122 Final

    • 46388 Words
    • 186 Pages

    Character/virtue: we should consider what kind of people we want to be, and what example we want to set…

    • 46388 Words
    • 186 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Meno

    • 988 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Plato, in his book Meno, defines whether or not virtue can be taught. He does so by presenting two different characters; Meno is just a mere prop that Plato utilizes so that he could convey his real messages through Socrates. The book is written in the dialectic style and begins with Meno’s question if virtue is teachable. Socrates responds to Meno’s question by saying that in order to answer that question, one must first know whether virtue can be defined or not. Meno attempts three times to define virtue however, each time Socrates refutes his definition with a counterargument. By the end of his third attempt, Meno calls Socrates a “torpedo fish” because he feels as if all the knowledge that he had acquired from Gorgias was replaced by questions and uncertainty. In the aforementioned passage, in the doxical context, Socrates admits he has this effect on others because he himself doesn’t know . On the other hand, in the ethological context, Socrates is mocking the teachings of Gorgias and the Sophists. Moreover, in a broader perspective, through Socrates, Plato criticizes all who pretend like they have acquired all the knowledge attainable in this world.…

    • 988 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    helloham

    • 3763 Words
    • 16 Pages

    Socrates is considered one of the greatest thinkers of all time. This was not because he was the most intelligent, but as he states in the Apology, it was because he knew he didn’t know everything. He enjoyed questioning people and getting them to think deeper and he would consider other’s opinions. He refers to himself as a gadfly that pesters the horse into action. This is the case in Plato’s Meno. Socrates is having a discussion with Meno on whether virtues are teachable. This conversation leads to what does it take for a man to be a success. Socrates states that there are two ways in which men succeed. They are though true knowledge and right opinion. Although there are differences between them, they both will lead to success.…

    • 3763 Words
    • 16 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Meno-Plato

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages

    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)…

    • 572 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Socrates Vs Meno

    • 1399 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In the process of learning about virtue at both levels, Socrates also teaches about virtue. Although in the Apology, Socrates claims he is not a teacher, “And if you have heard from anyone that I undertake to teach people and charge a fee for it, that is not true either” (Apology, 19d), he is actually teaching people just by his questioning. Socrates is searching for what virtue is on the cognitive level because he has an actual love for wisdom, and believes knowledge and wisdom will better your soul. “For I go around doing nothing but persuading both young and old among you not to care for your body or your wealth in preference to or as strongly as for the best possible state of your soul…(Apology, 30b). This shows us that Socrates in genuine for wanting to know what virtue is on a cognitive level because knowing what virtue is will better his soul. In the Meno, Socrates questions almost everything Meno says about virtue, and demands a proper definition of it. He even gets frustrated at Meno over it, “Because I begged you just now not to break up or fragment virtue, and I gave examples of how you should answer. You paid no attention…” (Meno, 79b). Socrates is getting frustrating at this point in the dialogue because Meno will not tell him what virtue actually means, or if he truly does not know what it means. During the back and forth arguments between Meno and Socrates while trying to determine the meaning of virtue, Socrates is unintentionally teaching Meno. Every time Socrates questioned Meno or his definitions, it made Meno take a step back and have to think about what he was saying. This lead Meno to have to further explain himself, or completely change his train of thought. This type of teaching that Socrates is demonstrating focuses more on questioning then giving answers. It makes the student do some of their own critical thinking and…

    • 1399 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays