Meno

What is the main question addressed in Plato's Meno?

Can virtue be taught?

Who are the main participants in the dialogue of Meno?

Socrates and Meno.

What is Meno's Paradox?

If one knows something, they have no need to inquire about it, and if one is entirely ignorant, they wouldn’t know what to ask.

What does Socrates' Theory of Recollection propose?

The soul is immortal and has lived many past lives; learning is a process of recollecting knowledge already acquired.

How does Socrates illustrate the Theory of Recollection?

By guiding an uneducated slave boy through a geometric problem.

What distinction does Socrates make regarding knowledge and true belief?

True beliefs about virtue can lack stability without the underpinning of knowledge.

What does Socrates imply about virtue in relation to knowledge?

If virtue is a form of knowledge, it should be teachable.

What possibility does Socrates suggest about the origin of virtue?

That virtue may arise from divine inspiration rather than human sources.

What does 'virtue' denote in the context of the dialogue?

Moral excellence or a good life.

What unresolved issue remains at the conclusion of Meno's inquiry?

Whether virtue can be taught or not.