Plato's Meno

By Platon

A dialogue between Socrates and Meno probes the subject of ethics. Can goodness be taught? If it can, then we should be able to find teachers capable of instructing others about what is good and bad, right and wrong, or just and unjust. Socrates and Meno are unable to identify teachers of ethics, and we are left wondering how such knowledge could be acquired. To answer that puzzle, Socrates questions one of Meno's servants in an attempt to show that we know fundamental ideas by recollecting them.-

• Language: English
• Publisher: SAGA Egmont
• Release date: Jul 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9788726627565

Platon

Platon wird 428 v. Chr. in Athen geboren. Als Sohn einer Aristokratenfamilie erhält er eine umfangreiche Ausbildung und wird im Alter von 20 Jahren Schüler des Sokrates. Nach dessen Tod beschließt Platon, sich der Politik vollständig fernzuhalten und begibt sich auf Reisen. Im Alter von ungefähr 40 Jahren gründet er zurück in Athen die berühmte Akademie. In den folgenden Jahren entstehen die bedeutenden Dialoge, wie auch die Konzeption des „Philosophenherrschers“ in Der Staat. Die Philosophie verdankt Platon ihren anhaltenden Ruhm als jene Form des Denkens und des methodischen Fragens, dem es in der Theorie um die Erkenntnis des Wahren und in der Praxis um die Bestimmung des Guten geht, d.h. um die Anleitung zum richtigen und ethisch begründeten Handeln. Ziel ist immer, auf dem Weg der rationalen Argumentation zu gesichertem Wissen zu gelangen, das unabhängig von Vorkenntnissen jedem zugänglich wird, der sich auf die Methode des sokratischen Fragens einläßt.Nach weiteren Reisen und dem fehlgeschlagenen Versuch, seine staatstheoretischen Überlegungen zusammen mit dem Tyrannen von Syrakus zu verwirklichen, kehrt Platon entgültig nach Athen zurück, wo er im Alter von 80 Jahren stirbt.

Book preview

Platon

Plato’s Meno

Translated by Albert A. Anderson

SAGA Egmont

Plato’s Meno

Μένων

Copyright © 5th-4th century BC, 2020 Plato and SAGA Egmont

All rights reserved

ISBN: 9788726627565

1. e-book edition, 2020

Format: EPUB 2.0

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Meno

Characters

MENO, SOCRATES, ANYTUS, MENO’S SLAVE

Meno: I have a question for you, Socrates. Can goodness be taught? Or do we acquire it through practice? Or if humans become good neither by teaching nor by practice, then perhaps it comes to us by nature or in some other way.

Socrates: Meno, there was a time when people from Thessaly were famous among the Greeks only for riches and horseriding. Now, if I’m not mistaken, you are equally famous for wisdom, especially at Larisa, the native city of your friend Aristippus. Gorgias is responsible for this. When Gorgias went there, the best young minds fell in love with his wisdom, including your lover Aristippus and the other leaders of Thessaly. He taught you the habit of answering questions in the grand and bold style of those who know. This is the style in which Gorgias answers all questions; any Greek may ask him anything. My dear Meno, things are quite different here in Athens. Wisdom is a scarce commodity; it seems to have relocated from us to you. [71] I’m sure that if you were to ask the Athenians whether goodness is natural or acquired, they would laugh in your face. They would probably say: Stranger, you have far too good an opinion of me; if I were inspired I might answer your question, but I don’t even know the meaning of goodness, much less whether or not it is acquired by teaching.

Meno, I live in this impoverished land, and I am as poor as the rest of its citizens. I confess with shame that I know nothing about goodness, so if I don’t know what it is, how can I know its qualities? If I knew nothing at all about Meno, how could I tell whether he was handsome, rich and noble, or the opposite of those qualities? Do you think I could?

Meno: Of course not. But, Socrates, are you serious when you say that you don’t know the meaning of goodness? Do you want me to report that news when I go back home?

Socrates: My dear Meno, you can tell them that, and you can also say that in my opinion I’ve never known of anyone else who did.

Meno: Didn’t you meet Gorgias when he was here in Athens?

Socrates: Yes, I did.

Meno: And don’t you think that he knew?

Socrates: I don’t have a good memory, Meno, so I can’t tell what I thought of him at the time. I suppose he did know, and that you know what he said. Remind me of how he put it. Or maybe you would rather tell me your own view; I suspect that you and he agree.

Meno: We do.

Socrates: Well, he isn’t here, so let’s forget about him. Meno, please be so kind as to tell me what you think goodness is; I would be delighted to find that I am mistaken and that you and Gorgias really know the meaning of goodness.

Meno: Socrates, it’s not difficult to answer that question. First consider what’s good in a man. A man is good when he knows how to