PHIL 1000 Chapter : Meno
Meno
1. Can virtue be taught?
2. Or is it the result of practice?
3. Or is it a gift from the Gods? (innate)
First it must be known, what is virtue?
If you didn’t know who Meno is, you wouldn’t know he’s Rich, handsome, and well-born
You may know Meno of his reputation, but not who he truly is
Can you know the parts without knowing the wholes of Meno?
Its not just about parts and wholes, but also about memories
Socrates claims to have forgotten his conversation with Gorgias but Meno “knows”
Mneme (greek word for memory) is a derangement of Meno’s name
Meno is ignorant
1. Parts and wholes
• For the first definition, Meno offers a definition for the variety of individuals, but he’s
looking for one definition
• Socrates compares this swarm of answers to a swarm of bees and asks what bees are
• Essentially Meno says that good management is a virtue
• Gorgias said virtue is the ability to rule over people
• Second definition given by Meno is that justice is virtue; as is moderation Piety, and
generosity
• Meno keeps splitting up the definition into many individual virtues this time
• Meno agrees with things that he’s heard before; he’s a parrot
• Socrates requests to talk about shapes in which they bring all shapes together; to
describe shape for what it is
• Socrates said shape is the limit or boundary of color
• Reciprocal definitions, in which two things describe each other
• These definitions are used to bind words as shapes bind color
• Meno then asks “what is color, Socrates?”
• Socrates says color is an effluvium from shapes that fits the sight and is perceived
2. Memory
• The memory of Meno works against him
• Meno doesn’t look for the meaning behind the words, but is satisfied with the words
themselves
• The third definition that Meno gives is to want pretty things and to have power to get
them
o Good and bad things
• Socrates asks if everyone wants good things.
