meno - philosophy midterm

how does socrates address meno's paradox?

1) what is recollection? 2) How does Socrates prove that all learning is recollection? Explain in detail the conversation of Socrates with the slave boy and its significance for the question of whether it is possible to learn anything? 3) What are the slave boy's three attempts to find the side of the double square?

what is meno's second attempt to answer the question "what is virtue"? what is socrates' problem with meno's answer?

Ability to rule (over others). Meno's second attempt discusses the ability to manage and to do so justly is what virtue is. "Virtue the same in the case of a child or a slave, namely, for them to be able to rule over a master, and do you think that he who rules is still a slave?"

what is meno's third attempt to answer the question "what is virtue"? what is socrates' problem with meno's answer?

Justice

what question does meno ask at the beginning of the dialogue?

Meno asks Socrates the origin of virtue. He first asks if virtue can be taught or if it isn't teachable, but rather something that is a result of practice or if people possess it by nature or another way. "Can you tell me, Socrates, can virtue be taught? Or is it not teachable but the result of practice, or is it neither of these, but men possess it by nature or in some other way?" (70a-page 59)

what are some basic logical rules that meno breaks in his attempts to answer what virtue is?

Meno consistently provides examples when Socrates asks for definitions, and that he also will provide broad definitions similar to the discussion about how justice and virtue where he was found just going around in a circle.

what are meno's intellectual and emotional reactions to socrates' refutation of his fourth attempt to answer what virtue is?

Meno is frustrated with Socrates because Meno thought he knew what virtue was, yet through Socrates continuously asking him questions and pushing him into many different directions that confuse him more rather than pointing him to the right answer and answering his questions. This frustration makes sense because he was being humiliated in front of a crowd.

explain the image of the torpedo fish.

Meno uses the image of the torpedo fish how after coming into contact with Socrates and as they progress through the different choices of what virtue is, Socrates is confusing Meno more and more. "Broad torpedo fish, for it too makes anyone who comes close and touches it feel numb, and you now seem to have had that kind of effect on me, for both my mind and my tongue are numb, and I have no answer to give you."

what is meno's paradox? what does he try to show and what is his argument for it? (give the complete version provided by socrates.)

Meno's paradox is the idea of how if you know what your looking for, than there is no point in looking for it. Yet on the other hand, if you don't know what your looking for, how can you search for it and know that you've found it? Thus making the conclusion that searching is either not needed or impossible. "Do you realize what a debater's argument you are bringing up, that man cannot search either for what he knows or for what he does not know? He cannot search for what he knows-since he knows it, there is no need to search-nor for what he does not know, for he does not know what to look for."

1) what is recollection?

Recollection is recalling knowledge and information that one has learned in a previous life. "As the soul is immortal, has been born often, and has seen all things here and in the underworld, there is nothing which it has not learned; so it is no way surprising that it can recollect the things it knew before, both about virtue and other things. As the whole nature is akin, and the soul has learned everything, nothing prevents a man, after recalling one thing only, a process men call learning-discovering everything else for himself, if he is brave and does not tire of the search."

what is meno's first attempt to answer the question "what is virtue"? what is socrates' problem with meno's answer?

Relative to circumstances. Meno's first attempt is split into different sections of what virtue is and how it varies from person to person. He sections it into how the virtue of a man differs from that of a woman which differs from a child, as well as a slave. Socrates does not like Meno's answer because he only asked for one virtue while Meno gave him a myriad of them, and that although they may vary, they all have the same form. "First, if you want the virtue of a man, it is easy to say that a man's virtue consists of being able to manage public affairs and in doing so to benefit his friends and harm his enemies and to be careful that no harm comes to himself; if you want the virtue of a woman, it is not difficult to describe: she must manage the home well, preserve its possessions, and be submissive to her husband; the virtue of a child, whether male or female, is different again, and so is that of an elderly man, if you want that, or if you want that of a free man or a slave. And there are many other virtues, so that one is not at a loss to say what virtue is. There is virtue for every actions and every age, for every task of ours and every one of us-and Socrates, the same is true for wickedness."

explain why socrates does not want to answer meno's question. what question does socrates want to address instead?

Socrates does not want to answer Meno's question because he does not believe you can search for something if you do not know what it is. Therefore Socrates asks what virtue is? "If I do not know what something is, how could I know the qualities it possesses?"

what method does socrates propose he and meno use to investigate whether virtue can be taught (since they cannot decide based on the definition of virtue)?

Socrates proposes a hypothetical method in order to determine the origin of virtue or whether it is teachable or if it is an innate ability. The hypothesis declares that if virtue is a kind of knowledge, than it can be taught. "So let us speak about virtue also, since we do not know either what it is or what qualities it possesses, and let us investigate whether it is teachable or not by means of a hypothesis, and say this: Among the things existing in the soul, of what sort is virtue, that it should be teachable or not? First, if it another sort than knowledge, is it teachable or not, or, as we were just saying, recollectable? Let it make no difference to us which term we use: Is it teachable? Or is it plain to anyone that men cannot be taught anything but knowledge? - I think so. But if virtue is a kind of knowledge, it is clear that it could be taught." (87b-c-page 79)

how does socrates argue that virtue can be taught?

Socrates says that if virtue is knowledge, then virtue is teachable, but virtue is knowledge (because it is guided by wisdom) therefore virtue is teachable.

how does socrates argue that virtue cannot be taught?

Socrates says that if virtue is teachable, than it should have teachers, but virtue has no teachers therefore it is not teachable.

how does the distinction between true opinion and knowledge undermine the argument that virtue can be taught?

Someone can have the right opinion about something that can still guide someone in the right direction similar to someone that has knowledge can guide someone in the same correct direction. Therefore this undermines the argument because it shows that someone does not necessarily need knowledge about something, but they just have to have a true opinion about it and if virtue is this it makes sense as to why there are no teachers of it. "So true opinion is in no way a worse guide for correct action than knowledge. It is this that we omitted in our investigation of the nature of virtue, when we said that only knowledge can guide correct action, for true opinion can do also."

what is meno's fourth attempt to answer the question "what is virtue"? what is socrates' problem with meno's answer?

The desire for beautiful things and the ability to get them. Meno's fourth attempt discusses that virtue is the desire to find beautiful things and have the power to acquire them. Socrates then forms an issue with this answer because he asks if Meno believes that there are people that want bad things while others desire good ones, which he then answers with a yes about how some do desire bad things. This translates into how people do not desire bad things, but rather they desire things that are good based on their beliefs, therefore this desire is based off knowledge. Meno's fourth attempt connects with his second in it being that virtue is the power of securing good things or that it is the capacity to acquire good things such as health, wealth, gold and silver, as well as honors and offices of the city. Socrates has a problem with this because if this was done unjustly then it would be wickedness, therefore they must include this acquisition to be done with justice, moderation, or piety. "I think, Socrates, that virtue is, as the poet says, 'to find joy in the beautiful things and have power.' So I say that virtue is to desire beautiful things and have the power to acquire them." "It is clear then that those who do not know things to be bad do not desire what is bad, but they desire those things that they believe to be good but that are in fact bad. It follows that those who have no knowledge of these things that they believe to be good but that are in fact bad."

what does the word apologia mean in greek?

the word apologia in greek means defense.