Plato, Meno

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, concepts, and人物 from Plato's Meno, focusing on virtue, knowledge, recollection, and the Socratic method.

Virtue (initial definition)

The excellence enabling one to govern; in Meno Socrates discusses virtue as the power to administer a state or order a household.

Many virtues vs. single common nature

Meno lists multiple virtues (e.g., courage, temperance, wisdom, magnanimity) and the dialogue explores whether there is one underlying nature of virtue.

Simile in multis

The idea of a 'simile in multis'—seeking the common nature underlying many things that share a name (e.g., figure, colour) to find a single definition.

Figure

In the dialogue, the form or boundary that ends a solid; Socrates defines figure as the limit of a solid.

Colour

An effluence or manifestation of form, perceived by sight; used to illustrate how form relates to perception.

Simile in multis (example concept)

A method for identifying a universal nature by comparing many related instances (the 'common nature' behind several figures or colours).

End/termination (telos) of a thing

A term used to discuss the ultimate boundary or purpose of a thing, central to the inquiry into what something is.

Diagonals (geometry)

The line connecting opposite corners of a square; used in Meno’s geometric dialogue to illustrate scale and recollection.

Diagonal (specific line)

The line that forms the boundary across a square, used to reason about areas and lines in the slave-boy geometry demonstration.

Recollection (anamnesis)

The theory that learning is a process of recalling knowledge the soul already possesses, awakened by questioning.

The soul is immortal

The claim that the soul exists before birth and after death, and carries knowledge from past lives.

Knowledge (episteme)

True, justified belief; in Meno, a reliable, certain guide to action.

True opinion

A correct belief about something that can guide action but lacks justification unless tied to reasons.

Torpid/torpedo metaphor

Socrates’ image of a shock (torpedo) that awakens the mind and induces recollection.

Right opinion

A correct belief that can guide action; as good as knowledge for guiding action, but not inherently certain.

Knowledge vs. right opinion as guides

Both can guide action; knowledge is more secure, while right opinion may be fallible without justification.

Goods and profitability (profitable)

Health, wealth, honor, etc.; their value depends on being guided by virtue and wisdom to be truly profitable.

Virtue as wisdom or prudence

If virtue is profitable, it is understood as a form of wisdom (phronesis) or prudent discernment.

Temperance and justice as parts of virtue

Temperance and justice are necessary components of virtue; without them, acquisition of goods is not virtuous.

The Sophists

Rhetorically skilled teachers (e.g., Gorgias, Protagoras, Prodicus) criticized by Socrates for corrupting youth and not teaching true virtue.

Anytus

Athenian politician who questions virtue’s teachability and challenges Socrates about who teaches virtue.

Themistocles, Aristides, Pericles (as examples)

Great Athenian statesmen used to illustrate that even good men may not be good teachers of virtue.

Protagoras

A Sophist cited by Socrates as an example of professional teaching that may corrupt youth; key figure in debates about virtue teaching.

Gorgias

A sophist whose rhetoric is contrasted with Socratic method; referenced as a teacher of bold questioning.

Hypothesis in teaching (geometric method)

Introducing a temporary hypothesis (like in geometry) to test a conclusion about virtue’s teachability.

Divine gift of virtue

The final conclusion of the dialogue: virtue comes to the virtuous as a gift from God, not by nature or teaching.

Divine/theory of divination (right guides)

Some guides to action may be divinely inspired or based on right opinion rather than knowledge.

Elenchus and dialectic

The Socratic method of questioning (elenchus) leading to dialectical inquiry and clearer definitions.

Gorgias’ style vs. Socratic method

Gorgias answers boldly in eristic fashion; Socrates aims for disciplined dialectic to expose definitions.

Inquiry end (telos) in Meno

The ongoing search for the nature of virtue; the dialogue ends by redefining virtue’s origin rather than settling its definition.

Conclusion of Meno

Virtue is neither natural nor acquired, but a divine instinct given by God to the virtuous; knowledge and true opinion remain guides in action.