Virtue in Meno s Eye
Virtue in Meno’s Eye Melvin Arnell PH 1381 Doug Gilmour October 4, 2003 Virtue in Meno’s Eye The first such necessity is attention to what is truly universal about "virtue." Menos most common error involves naming various examples of virtue instead of naming what is common to all the examples. ... Socrates makes this point in the context of Menos idea that virtue is the ability to acquire beautiful things. Socrates makes Meno admit that such acquisition is virtuous only if it is just. But if justice is a virtue, it cannot be used in the definition of virtue. Virtue can be defined as the quality of power. In a story written by Plato, there are many different ways that Socrates and Meno try to define virtue. Meno starts off asking Socrates what is virtue. Socrates says, “For I literally do not know what virtue is, and much less whether it is acquired by teaching or not” (Plato p23). So through out the whole dialogue they go through ways of trying to figure out if you can or can not define virtue. ... Socrates initial response is another case of irony: he cannot answer the question because he doesnt know anything about virtue, so puts it to Meno what virtue is. Meno states “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.