Plato's Meno (Cambridge Studies in the Dialogues of Plato)

Given its brevity, Plato's Meno covers an astonishingly wide array of topics: politics, education, virtue, definition, philosophical method, mathematics, the nature and acquisition of knowledge and immortality. Its treatment of these, though profound, is tantalisingly short, leaving the reader with many unresolved questions. This book confronts the dialogue's many enigmas and attempts to solve them in a way that is both lucid and sympathetic to Plato's philosophy. Reading the dialogue as a whole, it explains how different arguments are related to one another and how the interplay between characters is connected to the philosophical content of the work. In a new departure, this book's exploration focuses primarily on the content and coherence of the dialogue in its own right and not merely in the context of other dialogues, making it required reading for all students of Plato, be they from the world of classics or philosophy. Cover 1 Half-title 3 Series-title 4 Title 5 Copyright 6 Dedication 7 Contents 9 Acknowledgements 11 Introduction 13 part one 21 Chapter 1 The opening: 70a–71d 23 meno’s question 26 socrates’ response 31 The disavowal of knowledge 31 The priority of definition 32 Chapter 2 The first definition: 71e–73c 35 socrates versus gorgias 35 Gorgias’ position 36 Socrates’ response 38 socrates on trial (i) 39 Chapter 3 A lesson in definition: 73c–77b 43 the second definition 43 a dialogue within the dialogue (74b4–75a8) 44 sample definitions 47 The first definition of schema (75a8–d7) 47 The second definition of schema (75e1–76a7) 49 schemaas surface 51 The second definition again 53 The definition of colour (76a8–77a5) 55 The compatibility of the three definitions 57 Chapter 4 The third definition: 77b–79e 58 desire and the good (77b–78b) 58 The argument against 2a and 3a 60 The argument against 3b 61 virtue as the ability to acquire good things (78b–79e) 65 Virtue and external goods 65 Circularity and the dialectical requirement 68 Chapter 5 Meno as an interlocutor 72 intellectual laziness 72 coercion 74 part two 79 Chapter 6 The stingray: 79e–80d 81 meno’s attack on the elenchus 81 socrates on trial (ii) 83 Chapter 7 ‘Meno’s paradox’: 80d–81a 87 the surface problems 88 Meno’s challenge 88 The eristic dilemma 89 Is recollection proposed to solve the dilemma? 91 the problem of discovery 95 The foreknowledge principle 96 The priority of definition 97 socrates on trial (iii) 99 Chapter 8 The emergence of recollection: 81a–e 104 the religious background 104 socrates’ appropriation of older doctrines: two further puzzles 106 Chapter 9 The argument for recollection: 82b–85d 110 overview 110 the boy answers for himself 112 Socrates’ argument 112 Recollection, sense perception and a priori knowledge 115 the move towards recollection: 85c 9–d 10 117 Socrates’ ‘egalitarianism’ 118 Latent knowledge 120 the argument for immortality 124 The move to pre-existence 126 Indefinite pre-existence? 127 The move to post-existence 129 latent knowledge or belief? 130 Chapter 10 The conclusion: 86b6–c2 133 recollection as metaphor? 133 the default position 134 part three 139 Chapter 11 The method of hypothesis: 86c–87c 141 introduction 141 the method 143 Hypothesis as compromise 143 The geometrical example 145 The ethical application of the method 149 socrates on trial (iv) 152 in what sense is knowledge teachable? 154 Chapter 12 Virtue is teachable: 87c–89c 157 virtue as knowledge (87d–89a) 157 How much does Socrates want to prove? 158 Socrates’ underlying moral psychology 161 the value of knowledge 165 Instrumental goods 165 The regress objection of the Euthydemus 167 virtue does not come by nature (89a–b) 169 Chapter 13 Virtue is not teachable: 89e–96d 173 introduction 173 the argument with anytus 174 The sophists 175 The great and the good 176 why does plato introduce anytus into the dialogue? 177 The defence of Socrates 179 Anti-intellectualism 181 An object lesson for Meno 181 The discussion with Meno (95a–96d) 185 Chapter 14 Virtue as true belief: 96d–100b 188 overview 188 knowledge and true belief (96d–98c) 190 The distinction in outline 190 The value of stability 192 Some inconsistencies 194 Explanation and justification 196 Irony in the Meno 197 Real and shadow virtue 198 True belief and the eminent Athenians 199 Divine dispensation 204 Chapter 15 Irony in the Meno: the evidence of the Gorgias 206 the relation of the menoto the gorgias 206 Shadows of virtue in the Gorgias 206 Political virtue in the Meno and Gorgias 209 questions of chronology 212 Disenchantment with the elenchus 213 The influence of mathematics 214 The method of hypothesis 216 The theory of recollection 217 Chapter 16 Meno’s progress 221 Conclusion 226 the unity of the dialogue 226 the dialogue form 227 the end 228 Appendices 231 1: is meno 77b–78b compatible with republic iv? 231 Irwin’s view 231 The Croiset–Bodin view 232 2. the method of hypothesis: the bi-conditional interpretation 233 3. lloyd on mathematics and the mysteries 237 References 239 Index of ancient passages 244 General index 247 Part of The Cambridge Studies in the Dialogues of Plato. Given its brevity, Plato's Meno covers an astonishingly wide array of topics: politics, education, virtue, definition, philosophical method, mathematics, immortality & the nature & acquisition of knowledge. Its treatment of these, tho profound, is tantalizingly short, leaving the reader with many unresolved questions. This book confronts the dialogue's many enigmas & attempts to solve them in a way that is both lucid & sympathetic to Plato's philosophy. Reading the dialogue as a whole, it explains how different arguments are related to one another, & how the interplay between characters is connected to the philosophical content of the work. In a new departure, this book's exploration focuses primarily on the content & coherence of the dialogue in its own right, not merely in the context of Plato's other works, making it required reading for all students of Plato, whether they are from the world of classics or philosophy. Given its brevity, Plato's Meno covers an astonishingly wide array of topics: politics, education, virtue, definition, philosophical method, mathematics, the nature and acquisition of knowledge, and immortality. Its treatment of these, through profound, is tantalisingly short, leaving the reader with many unresolved questions. This book confronts the dialogue's many enigmas and attempts to solve them in a way that is both lucid and sympathetic to Plato's philosophy. Reading the dialogue as a whole, it explains how different arguments are related to one another, and how the interplay between characters is connected to the philosophical content of the work. In a new departure, this book's exploration focused primarily on the content and coherence of the dialogue in its own right, and not merely in the context of other dialogues, making it required reading for all students of Plato, be they from the world of classics or philosophy. If you have not yet studied Plato, Meno is a good, rather, excellent, place to start. It is a simple Platonic dialogue of Plato explaining geometry and ethical issues to Meno, while he draws them out with a stick in the sand to illustrate his point. There isn't much to say about this book, except buy it if you are at all interested in philosophy and if you are not, then this is a good place to start because without philosophy, how do you think? At least, that's what Plato might say, certainly Aristotle might argue this... Seneca would... others certainly and i can only imagine Marcus Aurelius, the great Stoic philosopher. sadi ranson Text and essays edited by Malcom Brown: St. Augustine / From On the teacher ; G.W. Leibniz / From Discourse on metaphysics ; Friedrich Nietzsche / From Introduction to the study of the Platonic dialogues ; F.M. Cornford / Anamnesis; Karl Popper / The nature of philosophical problems and their roots in science ; H.-P. Stahl / beginnings of propositional logic in Plato ; Malcolm Brown / Plato disapproves of the slave-boy's answer ; Gilbert Ryle / Teaching and training ; Martin Andic / Inquiry and virtue in the Meno. Plato's Meno provides a profound but tantalizingly brief treatment of a wide array of topics, including politics, education, virtue, and immortality. This book confronts its many enigmas by focusing on the dialogue in its own right, offering solutions which are both lucid and sympathetic to Plato's philosophy In a new departure, this book's exploration focused primarily on the content and coherence of the dialogue in its own right, and not merely in the context of other dialogues, making it required reading for all students of Plato, be they from the world of classics or philosophy."--Jacket Most of Plato's works start with an introductory scene, often of considerable length, giving details about the characters involved in the dialogue, as well as its physical and historical setting.