Riassunto
Riassunto di Menone
A chi è rivolto
For anyone who wants a first taste of Plato or enjoys asking how we learn and what goodness is. For readers who love lively philosophical conversations about virtue, knowledge and the value of being puzzled.
Che cos’è questo libro
Meno is a short dialogue by Plato, written in Athens in the early part of the fourth century BC. Two men talk. One is Socrates, the Athenian who questions everyone. The other is Meno, a young nobleman from Thessaly who has studied with the famous teacher Gorgias. Meno opens with a blunt question. Can virtue be taught, or does it come by practice, or by nature, or some other way?
Socrates says he cannot answer, because he does not even know what virtue is. From that small confession the talk widens. It takes in the meaning of a good definition, the value of being puzzled, a lesson in geometry given to a slave boy, and a search for any teacher of goodness. You get one of the first clear discussions of how we come to know anything at all. In the next fifteen minutes or so you will follow the argument step by step, beginning with Meno's first question and why Socrates will not simply answer it.
In questo riassunto
- 1Start by asking what virtue isFree
- 2A good definition names what is shared
- 3Being puzzled is a step forward
- 4A slave boy shows learning as recollection
- 5If virtue is knowledge, it can be taught
- 6Right opinion may guide us as knowledge does
Punto chiave 1 di 6
Start by asking what virtue is
Meno begins without ceremony. He asks Socrates whether virtue can be taught, or whether it comes by practice, or whether people are born with it. Socrates answers that he cannot say, because he does not know what virtue is at all. He adds that he has never met anyone who does. Meno is surprised. He studied under Gorgias, who surely knew.
So Socrates asks Meno to say what virtue is. This is the habit of Socrates in many dialogues. Before you can ask how a thing is acquired, you must know what the thing is. If you do not know what a person is, you cannot say whether that person is tall or short. The same goes for virtue. Whether it can be taught is a question about its nature, and the nature has not been settled.
Meno answers at once and with confidence. There is one virtue for a man, he says, which is to manage the affairs of the city well, helping friends and harming enemies. There is another for a woman, which is to run the household and obey her husband. There is another for a child, another for an old man, another for a slave. Meno believes there are as many virtues as there are ages and roles in life.
This first answer sets the pattern for the whole dialogue. Meno knows many examples of good conduct, but he cannot say what they share. For the reader the lesson is practical. When you are sure you know what courage, fairness or honesty is, try to say it in a sentence that fits every case. Most of us find, like Meno, that we hold a pile of examples and no real definition. Plato wants that discovery to be uncomfortable and useful at the same time.
That’s 1 of 6 key points.
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Who’s who
- Socrates
- An Athenian questioner who asks Meno to define virtue before deciding whether anyone can teach it.
- Meno
- A young nobleman from Thessaly and student of Gorgias who questions Socrates about how people acquire virtue.
- Slave boy
- A boy enslaved in Meno's household whom Socrates questions about geometry to explore how learning happens.
- Anytus
- An Athenian citizen who joins Socrates and Meno in considering who might teach people to be good.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 22,000 words
- Reading timeAbout 1 h 30 min
- Listening time2 h 30 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 14 other languages
Questions about Menone
What is Plato's Meno about?
It asks whether virtue can be taught. Socrates says that first they must know what virtue is. The talk then moves to definitions, the paradox of inquiry, the theory of recollection, and the difference between knowledge and true opinion.
What is Meno's paradox?
It is the objection that you cannot search for what you do not know. If you know it, you need not search. If you do not, you could not recognize it when found. Socrates answers with recollection.
What is the slave boy scene in Meno?
Socrates questions a servant boy with no training in geometry and leads him to see how to double the area of a square. Socrates says this shows that knowledge is recalled from within the soul.
Who are Meno and Anytus?
Meno is a young nobleman from Thessaly who studied with Gorgias. Anytus is an Athenian politician who joins the talk and resents the sophists. He is known later as one of the men who accused Socrates.
Is Meno hard to read?
It is one of the easier dialogues to start with. It is short, lively and built on clear questions and a diagram. You can follow the argument.