Plato's Meno once again incorporates his favorite character Socrates into another debate with a new person, Meno. Representing an impulsive man, who Socrates commonly refers to as a "rogue", he continually tries to beat Socrates at his own game by forcing him to contradict himself. However, through the dialogue, which eventually leads to the question of virtue, Plato is able to use Socrates to prove one of his most fundamental and important theories, that of knowledge. However, while I recognize Plato's ideas of knowledge as an important catalyst in obtaining what we do not know, or rather what we do not recollect, I have to admit that his concept is some what flawed.
In our short excerpt Plato attempts to prove that there is no such thing as "a priori knowledge" and offers to explain that knowledge is simply a recollection of what we had once known in an earlier existence. Right in line with his theory of Forms Plato uses mathematics as his example in the dialogue with the boy, trying to demonstrate that he has some concept of the geometry of a square. Plato had hoped that this philosophical inquiry could yield similar results as what were later displayed in the Republic with his concept of justice by examining what was already latent in the boy. Through this concept of the Forms Plato tries to explain that we can only imitate the Forms through accessing them, a reason which late proved successful for not knowing what justice is, or what beauty and goodness is.
The same is true with the boy in Meno, he is not able to completely grasp these concepts of geometry because he is just imitating the Forms from knowledge in a previous life. Here in lies a paradox, the Forms are thought of as themselves being the answers to the questions, such as "what is X", or, in Meno, what is the value of X line that gives us an eight-foot figure with in a square. The boy cannot answer this question and replies, "Well, on my word, Socrates, I for one do not know.
Meno by Plato "Learning As Recollection" In Meno by Plato, Socrates and Meno are involved in somewhat of a heated argument about virtue. ... A good example of this is the part of Meno when Socrates questions a slave boy about a geometry problem. ...
Plato, John D. ... In Plato's "The Meno" (1956), he proposes that learning is a process of recollecting knowledge brought about by prior experiences or questioning. ... Plato's "The Meno," emphasizes the idea of learning as a process of recollecting knowledge through questioning and discovery. "The Meno" is a dialogue between Socrates and a character named Meno, who discuss whether virtue can be taught. Socrates attempts to define virtue by questioning Meno, a person who claims to know the term's meaning. ...
The theory of recollection is told through Plato in the Phaedo and the Meno. ... "In his dialogue entitled the Meno, Plato illustrates how Socrates is able to show that even a young uneducated slave boy knows some truths of geometry not because somebody taught him that subject but because be naturally knows the relationship of various ideas to each other." ... In the Meno, Socrates states that the boy is "recovering by oneself knowledge within oneself." (Plato 85D) Knowledge in the Meno is perceived as having an acquaintance with the object, but not knowing how it functions. ... (C...
Just like Plato's Meno and Socrate's allegory of the cave, Bernardo Bertolucci's "The Conformist" was a story about moral and educational failure. ... Like Meno, of Meno, Clerici would fail, a victim of his own desire to learn only "correct opinions" to guide his actions and unwillingness to exercise his "prudence," practical reason to help him understand the "correct opinions" more dynamically. ... Such mirrored the failure of Meno, in Plato's Meno, whose downfall was also in part due to his desire to learn only "correct opinion...
This might explain Plato's why as a young man, Plato's interest were in political leadership. ... Afraid for his life; Plato left Athens and began to travel. ... It wasn't until about 385 B.C that Plato returned to Athens. ... These works include Gorgias (a consideration of several ethnical questions) and Meno (a discussion of knowledge). ... Plato died in about 347 B.C at the age of 80 years old. ...
With the dialogues of the Meno and Phaedo, Plato discusses the ideas of recollection and immortality of the soul in general. In the dialogue of Meno, Socrates explains the idea of recollection within the question and answer period between himself and the boy. Meno asks Socrates, "What do you mean by saying that we do not learn, and that what we call learning is only a process of recollection." ... I believe that through the three dialogues of Plato, his theory has been proven. ... Looking at the Meno, Plato discusses how the knowledge we have is innate and takes recollection to recover said ...
The theory of the forms is hinted at in previous books like the Meno but it isn't until the Phaedo before it is really introduced. ... Understanding the forms is what is most important for Plato. ... The idea of forms is vital to Plato's idea of immortal soul. ... The forms play a major role in Plato's basic ethical doctrine. ... I generally have to agree with Plato. ...
I Remember It All Plato's doctrine of recollection states that rather than "learning" in the common sense, what is in reality occurring when people think, and eventually find an answer or solution to a problem, is that they are "recollecting" concepts they already knew. It is, in Plato's view, recovery from amnesia developed through the process of recycling of "souls." Plato's Meno is logically inconsistent. If knowledge is "justified true belief," as Plato defines it, then the acquisition of knowledge is the subjective formation and justification of belief rather than the...
Over 2000 years into the future, the pensive world still contemplates this inevitable truth. During those 2000 years, Plato's Meno has been scrutinized repeatedly, yet Socrates" ideas still stands strong. In that fateful evening, 2000 in the past, the mouths of Socrates and Menon gave birth to man...
