Meno

Philosophy of Education

Winter 2006

Plato's Meno

It was kind of odd I hadn't been involved in university studies for over 15 years. So it was with much apprehension that I sat down late at night after dinner out with my wife on a Saturday night that I started to read Plato's Meno. I w as thinking it would be a laborious read and was pleasantly surprised as I got into the meat of the reading.

The reading can be summarized by stating that this is a dialog between two men that discuss the nature of man's attainment of knowledge. There are three distinct sections to the assigned reading. The first part deals with Meno's question to Socrates. Can virtue be taught? Socrates is reluctant to answer the question per se and hints and probes at a more vexing question that needs to be addressed before Meno's initial question can be answered definitively. What is the universal definition of virtue? This leads to the second section of the reading. Socrates introduces the concept of knowledge as recollection, i.e. the immortal soul of a man contains all knowledge. Through recollection man can discover knowledge. Socrates illustrates his precept by teach a mere slave boy the rudiments of geometry. The dialog ends on the third and final section of the text. Having discussed at length knowledge and the true nature of virtue, Meno ponders to Socrates yet again. Can virtue be taught? At this point I really didn't think Socrates was going to answer yes or no to Meno. So guess I knew I was in for a thorough discussion of the matter. Socrates ends the treaty with a discussion of right opinion versus true knowledge. In the end, can virtue be taught? Socrates thinks not.