The Plato Paradigm

Socrates begins to test Anytus' claim that any decent Athenian citizen can teach his own virtue (arete). He ensures that Anytus thinks Themistocles is a good Athenian citizen before asking him whether he taught his virtue to his son, Cleophontus. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go. The resulting analyses may be found at: https://theplatopar...

Anytus claims that decent ("fine and good") Athenians learn their virtue from earlier decent Athenians. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go. The resulting analyses may be found at: https://theplatoparadigm.com

Anytus rejects sophists as teachers of his arete, and points instead to decent Athenian citizens, any of whom could teach Meno to be better. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go. The resulting analyses may be found at: https://theplatoparadigm.com

It turns out that Anytus has no experience of sophists yet dislikes them all the same. Prompted by Socrates, Anytus states that the sophists aren't mad (presumably. because they make money out of deceiving people), but the youths who study with them are mad, the relatives who send them are madder, and the cities condoning their harmful practices are the maddest. Here I read through Platonic dialog...

Socrates effectively points out to Anytus that objecting to the sophists does not follow from the criteria they had agreed upon for a good teacher. They profess to teach, and they make lots of money from teaching, indicating that they have many satisfied customers. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go. The resulting analyses may be found at:...

Anytus is shocked to discover that Socrates thinks sophists are the people Meno should be sent to in. order to become virtuous like Anytus. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go. The resulting analyses may be found at: https://theplatoparadigm.com

Socrates has manoeuvred Anytus into agreeing that they should be looking for someone who claims to be able to teach the techne Meno wants to learn, and who already makes money from teaching that techne. Socrates equates sophia with arete and states that Meno wishes to learn a complex virtue which we, and presumbaly Antyus, see as comprising Anytus' own characteristic behaviours. Because of the cri...

Socrates suggests two criteria required to determine who are teachers worth sending Meno to. Anytus agrees to teachers being those: A. having a techne, B. making money. from the techne - but also A. promising to teach a techne, B. making money. from teaching the techne. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go. The resulting analyses may be found...

Socrates begins his conversation with Anytus, with the overt purpose of searching for teachers of virtue. The sequence of questions follows the pattern "To become a good craftsman should one be sent to the craftsmen?", which at first sight is an odd question when it comes to searching for teachers of virtue. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I...

Socrates bemoans his failure to find a teacher of virtue. As luck would have it, Meno's host in Athens, Anytus, has just sat down with them, and Socrates begins to explain why Anytus will be able to help them. The father of Anytus, Anthemion, became rich from his trade at which he was an expert (a scholion tells us he was a tanner). Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commentin...

Socrates pretends to suspect that virtue is not episteme (knowledge, understanding) because any episteme of anything requires the presence of teachers and students. Meno accepts this fallacy but questions whether there seem to Socrates to be no teachers or students of virtue. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go. The resulting analyses may be...

Socrates and Meno finally come to end of the argument following the hypothesis that virtue is teachable. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go. The resulting analyses may be found at: https://theplatoparadigm.com

Prudence (phronēsis) is found to be all or part of virtue (aretē). Given that this has followed from the hypothesis that virtue is teachable, it would seem that phronēsis does not come to people by nature. Socrates supports this conclusion with compelling evidence. Naturally good children are not kept under guard in the acropolis until they are of an age to benefit cities, and this indicates that...

The argument following the hypothesis continues. Socrates arrives at the formulation that the intelligent soul uses things correctly, while the untintelligent soul uses things mistakenly. After this high point the argument once again deteriorates into one blatant mistake after another, without Meno noticing any wrong. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek...

Phronesis (prudence) is regarded by some Greek philosophers as virtue itself, with the cardinal virtues being aspects of it. Phronesis in this argument is presented as an addition to the virtues, in keeping with Meno's inability to think abstractly. It is only with the addition of phronesis that anything becomes beneficial. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the...

Socrates continues to explore the ramifications of the hypothesis that virtue, if teachable, would be an episteme (knowledge/understanding). Following the concluson that good things such as health, wealth, strength, and beauty are beneficial ony when used with intelligence (nous), but harmful when used without intelligence, this time Socrates begins considering the good things of the soul, the. fi...

Here is the hypothesis: If virtue is some sort of knowledge, it will be teachable. Since virtue is also a good thing (it isn't - it is simply the characteristic of good things, just as bravery is the characteristic of brave things), if we find that all good things involve knowledge, then virtue will also be a knowledge, and then we'll know that it is teachable. Socrates gives Meno many opportuniti...

Socrates applies the hypothetical method to virtue. If virtue is something like episteme (knowledge, understanding), then it is teachable or recollectable. Meno enthusiastically agrees that nothing is taught other than episteme. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go. The resulting analyses may be found at: https://theplatoparadigm.com

Meno has once again avoided saying what virtue is, this time by reverting to his original question, what sort of thing Socrates thinks virtue is, although this time omitting the option that it is exercisable. Socrates is faced with the dilemma of either confronting Meno or going along with Meno's desire to sit back and listen to Socrates. Socrates suggests usinng a hypothesis, and entertains Meno...

Socrates has finally broken the impasse (or rather, Meno has allowed the impasse to be broken, somehow - he's not sure how it happened). Now Meno is excited to get back to searching along with Socrates what virtue is. Or actually, he'd rather hear Socrates answer Meno's original question. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenting on the Greek text as I go. The resulting an...

The Theory of Recollection - part 13: The demonstration - (post mortem, part 2): Socrates continues his sophistic and shoddy proof that the slave must have looked into his soul and found some episteme (knowledge, understanding) there. Meno is satisfied that Socrates has proved his point, although, as he says at the end, he doesn't know how. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and c...

The Theory of Recollection - part 12: The demonstration - (post mortem): Socrates begins his sophistic and shoddy proof that the slave must have looked into his soul and found some episteme (knowledge, understanding) there. Socrates must be extremely disappointed that Meno and all those lurking Platonists fail to react to any of the deliberate inconsistencies. He'll have to try harder next time (a...

The Theory of Recollection - part 11: The demonstration - part 7 (final part): The rest of the demonstration after the aporetic interlude is surprisingly quick. Suddenly there is a potential base line the slave hadn't seen before. Socrates has just drawn the square with the double area, so that might have something to do with it. The demonstration clearly (to us) has nothing to do. with any Theory...

The Theory of Recollection - part 10: The demonstration - part 6: Socrates finishes talking to Meno about the aporia of the slave, while actually referring to the aporia of Meno himself. For the first time he mentions doxa (opinion, reputation - that which seems). Opinion will become very important in the second half of the dialogue. Here I read through Platonic dialogues, translating and commenti...

The Theory of Recollection - part 9: The demonstration - part 5: Socrates discusses with Meno the exercise so far, stressing how being numbed by the torpedo fish (using Meno's analogy) is no bad thing, but a necessary step towards searching for the truth. Vlastos' "Socratic Method" accepts that Socrates does indeed lead his interlocutors to the realization that they do not know what they thought t...