What is the main point of Meno?

The Meno is probably one of Plato’s earliest dialogues, with the conversation dateable to about 402 BCE. The dialogue begins with Meno asking Socrates whether virtue can be taught, and this question (along with the more fundamental question of what virtue is) occupies the two men for the entirety of the text.

What are some of the key points between Socrates and Meno?

Socrates’ response: The ability to rule men is only good if the rule is just. But justice is only one of the virtues. So Meno has defined the general concept of virtue by identifying it with one specific kind of virtue. Socrates then clarifies what he wants with an analogy.

What does Meno say to Socrates?

He calls this answer “theatrical.” Now Meno gives an answer about what virtue is: “to desire beautiful things and have the power to acquire them” (77b). Socrates goes to work on the answer. He says that someone desiring beautiful things desires good things, thus shifting the focus.

What does Socrates argue in Meno?

Meno again attempts to define virtue, this time as “desiring fine things and being able to acquire them” (77b). Socrates argues that no one desires what is not good, and that therefore the definition reduces to “the power of acquiring good things” (78c).

What is the Meno problem?

In Plato’s Meno, Socrates raises the question of why knowledge is more valuable than mere true belief. Call this the Meno problem or, anticipating distinctions made below, the primary value problem.

What is Meno knowledge?

Plato’s Meno is often thought to say that knowledge (epistêmê) is true belief (doxa) plus something, where the ‘something’ is often thought to be justification. However, it has also been argued that the Meno doesn’t take knowledge to be a species of, or even to imply, true belief.

What is virtue according to Meno?

Meno adds that there exists a virtue for every action, age and occasion [71e-72]. (2) The ability to rule over people is the virtue common to all [73d]. (3) Virtue is to desire beautiful things and have the power to acquire them [77b].

What kind of person is Meno?

A good-looking young man who belongs to a prominent family in Thessaly. At the time of his dialogue with Socrates, Meno is soon to begin his career as an important politician.

What is the conclusion in the Meno?

Upon investigation of the qualities of the soul, Socrates and Meno come to the conclusion that “virtue is wisdom, either the whole or part of it” (89a) and thus reject one of the hypotheses proposed by Meno (that some can obtain virtue by nature).

What does Socrates say about virtue in Meno?

Socrates reminds Meno that no virtuous quality is any good without “moderation and justice.” Meno agrees, and Socrates points out that this idea gets at something common to all cases of virtue.