Summary of the Argument from the Meno.
There are three stages of the argument from the Meno. It has different problems and puzzles with the theory of recollection and arguments in the dialogues (Bove, 2017). The first argument is that virtue is relative to the sort of individuals under reference. For example, the virtues of ladies to be efficient in being submissive to their husbands and managing homes. On the other hand, the virtue of a soldier is to be brave and skilled enough for fighting on the battlefield. The second argument is that virtue is the ability towards ruling men and revolves around the aspect that virtue is what makes it possible for the fulfillment of one’s goals. It argues that the primary purpose for men is happiness that involves the satisfaction of their desires, and the key to that is wielding power (Westacott, 2019). Meno argues that it involves the rule over other men and may be associated with sophists. The argument presents a dilemma: people cannot learn virtue either what they know or what they don’t. Socrates here exposes the false dichotomy through the identification of cognition states between pure ignorance and complete knowledge. While many papers have pointed out that Socrates manages and attempts to solve the difficulties in knowing things, there are various paradoxical aspects (Basut, 2017). He introduces suggests that learning may be possible through remembering what individuals may have previously known but forgotten. He introduces the theory of recollection, and Socrates refutes it. Meno sees that the explanation by Socrates is compelling, although a bit puzzling. Socrates recommends it as encouraging people to work harder to learn what we do not know. Lastly, Meno argues that virtues are the desire for having the abilities to acquire beautiful and delicate things. The description by Meno on how he feels provides us with ideas of the effects that Socrates had on different individuals. Meno is content to conclude that virtues may be taught, but Socrates turns on the arguments and criticizes them. He objects that if virtues could be taught, teachers could be needed to teach them, but there are non-hence cannot be teachable.
The arguments offer the argumentative methods of Socrates and his searchers for definitions of concepts of morality. The dialogues end up not definition virtue although has been identified with a kind of wisdom or knowledge but the components of the knowledge are not dully specified. Meno argues that virtue may be taught in principle, although there are no teachers who understand the theoretical understanding of its essential nature. Meno agrees reluctantly on the fact that virtue may be taught through hypothetical models on what ought to be taught and the sorts of things that are good. However, Meno argues that based on the fact that no individuals teach virtue, it cannot be taught and must not be knowledgeable. Anytus, on the other hand, objects to the sophists claiming that virtue can be taught for pay and notes that good people may teach children and young adults to be good in life while having good morals. By the end of the dialogue, the participating individuals arrive at a state whereby they do not know the exact meaning of virtue, although they realize that they do not know about it.
Personal Reflection
The question of whether virtue may be taught seems to be narrow from my view point and could have been whether people can learn virtue. However, Plato is right, suggesting that there are no teachers of virtue. This is because people may recite the rules of virtue such as honesty but do not practice them. From my personal view about the arguments of Meno, learning may come in various forms, and learning something may not require a teacher. For example, learning may be achieved through studying individuals who have virtue without them realizing that they are being studied. It means that a person can learn virtue, and the teacher may be virtuous, with the teachers even being nonexistent. The text also misfires my views in that learning virtue can be done through experience. Here, the teacher may be the reflective nature of the learners as well as being life experiences. People can also learn despite them not effectively explaining how the process took place or what they know. For example, someone may go through a hardship in life and realize that their family friend is going through the dame. The person knows it but has no explanations on how they recognized it. In another example, painters and artists learn the craft of compelling artistry, although they find it had to explain what they learn daily. Similarly, people may instill virtues in individuals, but the individuals fail to practice them. From my perspective, Plato could have put the question in a different way such that he asks whether virtue can b learned and not taught and might have found better and affirmative answers from Meno. While the context challenges and misfires my philosophical viewpoint, it could be useful if the question was differently formulated such that my opinion and examples fit in the explanation on acquiring virtue through learning.
References
Basut, L. L. (2017). Meno’s “Paradox”: An Analysis of the Eristic Argument. Filozofski vestnik, 38(1).
Bove, G. (2017). Paradox and protreptic in Plato’s Meno.
Westacott, E. (2019). What Plato’s Meno Says About Virtue. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/platos-meno-2670343