Meno

“I confess with shame that I know literally nothing about virtue […]”

Socrates displays false modesty by comparing himself unfairly to Meno’s famous teacher Gorgias. Socrates will lead Meno into a discussion of what it means to be virtuous, using his Socratic Method of questioning and close reasoning to arrive at conclusions Meno doesn’t expect.

“Meno: […] Let us take first the virtue of a man—he should know how to administer the state, and in the administration of it to benefit his friends and harm his enemies; and he must also be careful not to suffer harm himself. A woman's virtue, if you wish to know about that, may also be easily described: her duty is to order her house, and keep what is indoors, and obey her husband. Every age, every condition of life, young or old, male or female, bond or free, has a different virtue: there are virtues numberless, and no lack of definitions of them; for virtue is relative to the actions and ages of each of us in all that we do.” 

Meno outlines his belief that virtues differ depending on the person and her or his role. Socrates will suggest instead that there’s something essential about virtue that holds true for all people.

“[…] I should not only speak the truth, but I should make use of premises which the person interrogated would be willing to admit.” 

Socrates states a central component of his Socratic Method, by which he advances an argument through common agreement about basic ideas. He then shows how those ideas lead logically to the conclusion he proposes. This method bypasses the prejudiced thinking common to humans and emphasizes instead the value of neutral reasoning. It anticipates the later development of the Scientific Method and its dispassionate, logically rigorous search for knowledge and understanding.

“SOCRATES: […] whatever is accompanied by justice or honesty is virtue, and whatever is devoid of justice is vice.” 

Whereas Meno believes that virtue is the desire for the honorable, Socrates suggests that virtue lies in the way in which such a desire is fulfilled. It’s better, he believes, to refuse to acquire honors and wealth in a dishonest manner than to gain the symbols of virtue by any means necessary. Virtue lies in the method, not the outcome.

“O Socrates, I used to be told, before I knew you, that you were always doubting yourself and making others doubt; and now you are casting your spells over me, and I am simply getting bewitched and enchanted, and am at my wits’ end.” 

Socrates’s teaching method—asking questions that lead from one conclusion to the next until no one can doubt the final answer—sometimes has a hypnotic effect on students, enthralling them and leaving them tongue-tied. Only the more experienced of Socrates’s philosophical trainees can maintain their composure under the master’s relentless questioning; only those well-practiced in the art of Socratic dialog will be able to raise interesting objections to the teacher’s conjectures and discuss them with him intelligently. When they can do so, Socrates knows he has succeeded in his task as a teacher.

“And how will you enquire, Socrates, into that which you do not know? What will you put forth as the subject of enquiry? And if you find what you want, how will you ever know that this is the thing which you did not know?” 

Meno asks a question, famous in philosophy as Meno’s Paradox, about whether it’s possible for an uninformed person to know when they’ve found the answer for which they’re looking.

“[…] all enquiry and all learning is but recollection.” 

This is the essence of Socrates’s answer to Meno’s Paradox: The soul, being immortal and endlessly reincarnated, has long since learned all about everything, so that answers come from remembering the relevant particulars within all of that experience.

“Some things I have said of which I am not altogether confident. But that we shall be better and braver and less helpless if we think that we ought to enquire, than we should have been if we indulged in the idle fancy that there was no knowing and no use in seeking to know what we do not know;—that is a theme upon which I am ready to fight, in word and deed, to the utmost of my power.” 

This statement sets up an essentially modern concept about knowledge, that it can be acquired through effort. Socrates believes in the value of asking questions and seeking answers; this flies in the face of the ancient idea of a steady-state universe where nothing changes, and nothing can get better. Indeed, during that time, innovations were few and far between. The ancient Greeks believed that their Golden Age was long past, and that they were condemned to dwell in its aftermath. Socrates’s optimistic attitude, rediscovered during the Renaissance, would help inspire the technical and scientific discoveries that shape the present era.

“[…] a principle which has any soundness should stand firm not only just now, but always.” 

Socrates believes that ideas should not be taken on faith but must be tested for soundness. This evolved into the Scientific Method, which uses experiments to prove or disprove conjectures about the world. In this way, scientists and technologists have confirmed enormous amounts of knowledge, from the nature of the atom to the size and age of the universe, and how to construct a pocket-sized computer or inoculate people against pandemics.

“I do not retract the assertion that if virtue is knowledge it may be taught; but I fear that I have some reason in doubting whether virtue is knowledge […]” 

Meno asks whether virtue can be transmitted to others, and Socrates replies that this depends on whether virtue is a field of information that can be imparted.

“SOCRATES: […] how can you know whether a thing is good or bad of which you are wholly ignorant? ANYTUS: Quite well; I am sure that I know what manner of men these [Sophists] are, whether I am acquainted with them or not. SOCRATES: You must be a diviner, Anytus, for I really cannot make out, judging from your own words, how, if you are not acquainted with them, you know about them.” 

In this exchange, Socrates and Meno’s friend Anytus consider whether the Sophists—philosophers who specialize in oratory and debate—might be able to instruct young men in the principles of virtue. Anytus despises the Sophists, though he admits he knows little about them. Socrates’s reply, that opinions without facts are irrational, throws down a challenge to those who prefer traditional beliefs to actual evidence. Socrates thus lays the foundations of skepticism and rationality that will mark the evolution of Western philosophy. He also deliberately provokes Anytus—a man who, a few years later, will prosecute Socrates for impiety and corrupting the youth.

“I often wonder, Socrates, that Gorgias is never heard promising to teach virtue: and when he hears others promising he only laughs at them; but he thinks that men should be taught to speak.” 

Meno’s teacher, the Sophist Gorgias, is wise enough not to presume to know how to teach virtue to students. Instead, he and the other Sophists teach general philosophy, oration, and debate, so that their pupils can learn the art of juggling arguments so as to succeed in public life.

“I wonder that knowledge should be preferred to right opinion—or why they should ever differ.” 

This question, posed by Meno, is known as the Meno Problem: Is knowledge better than traditional belief? Socrates answers that “opinion” can be as valid as knowledge as long as it is anchored to reality by experience and validated by the soul’s recollection of eternal truths.