What is the Socratic paradox and why is it a paradox?
Rather than a strict paradox, the term refers to either of two surprising and unacceptable conclusions drawn from the Socratic dialogues of Plato: (i) the startling consequence of Socrates’s association of knowledge and virtue, according to which nobody ever does wrong knowingly; (ii) the view that nobody knows what …
What is Meno’s first definition of virtue?
Meno again attempts to define virtue, this time as “desiring fine things and being able to acquire them” (77b). Socrates argues that no one desires what is not good, and that therefore the definition reduces to “the power of acquiring good things” (78c).
Does Socratic solve Meno’s paradox?
Was Socrates able to solve the Meno’s Paradox? Yes, I believe he was able to at least clarify the issue on Meno’s Paradox. He proposed a method called Theory of Recollection.
What is Meno’s initial response to the question what is virtue?
Socrates remarks that Meno makes many out of one, like somebody who breaks a plate. Meno proposes that virtue is the desire for good things and the power to get them. Socrates points out that this raises a second problem—many people do not recognize evil.
What is a Socratic paradox example?
Socrates provided resolutions to claims that appeared to contradict common sense. Here are two examples. Paradox 1: No one desires evil but many have evil goals or are bad themselves. That is, the source of evil is ignorance. Paradox 2: It is better to be the victim of injustice than the perpetrator.
Why is Socrates Life paradoxical?
Why couldn’t he accept exile? Socrates’s understanding of himself is that life is not worth living is he cannot choose what is right (c.f., the Socratic paradox. Socrates notes that he cannot change and improve his soul; hence, if he went elsewhere, he would continue his questioning.
How did menos introduce the paradox to Socrates?
Meno introduces a paradox to Socrates, which brings in question the foundation of Socrates’ scheme and mode of reaching at expertness of unexplored or undiscovered issues with the help of inquiry. The asked question concerns the issue of how Socrates can investigate something, which he knows nothing about.
What does menos say about the paradox of inquiry?
Meno’s Paradox or Paradox of Inquiry states that “a man cannot inquire either about what he knows or about what he does not know – for he cannot inquire about what he knows, because he knows it, and in that case is in no need of inquiry; nor again can he inquire about what he does not know,…
Why is the argument for meno’s paradox flawed?
The argument for Meno’s Paradox is therefore flawed: it commits the fallacy of equivocation. But beyond it lies a deeper problem. And that is why Plato does not dismiss it out of hand.