Platos Meno Essay -- essays research papers

The dialogue opens up with Meno asking what virtue is and whether it could be taught. Socrates asks Meno for a general definition of virtue, since as Socrates points out, we cannot figure out if virtue can be taught if we do not have a clear idea what it is. Socrates is looking for a general, or formal definition of virtue, not just examples or instances of it. Socrates wants to know what all the examples of virtue have in common. He wants to know the essence of virtue. Meno initially offers a list of virtues, but Socrates rejects this as a sufficient account. Meno also states that there are different virtues for everyone. The virtue of a man is to order a state and the virtue of a woman is to order a household. I believe that virtue can be found in everything, good, bad, or ugly.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Meno makes an interesting point. How will one know when they find virtue if they do not know virtue? The Socratic paradox is Socrates’ visible claim that virtue is a kind of knowledge, and vice a kind of ignorance. It is a paradox because people usually think a person can know the good and still fail to do it. That is, people usually think that virtue is more than a matter of knowing, it is also a matter of willing. Socrates says that if virtue were knowledge, then anybody who really knew the good would automatically be good. Indeed if Socrates is right that virtue is knowledge, it would be impossible to know the good and not to be good. For example, Christians know s...