Plato's Meno

Athens democratic politician, son of self-made man, trade turner; he was a military commander of the Piros expedition in 409 BC - he was charged with poorness [Diodorus 13. 54]. Thirty tyrants (including Plato's uncle and cousin) who helped Thraybulus regain democracy were expelled

The main purpose of Plato's Menor is to explore the nature of virtue. So, so-called student Meno who acted as usual like Socrates and Plato's mouthpiece tried to answer the question "What is virtue?" They were initially unable to understand what inspired them to ask whether Meno should even think that answers are possible due to that virtue. The problem is how do you find things like virtues when you do not know what you are looking for? If you already know what it is, you do not need to find it; however, if you do not know what it is, how do you know when you find it? The problem of finding something's definition is called the "paradox of investigation".

From the eyes of many people, virtues can be easily defined as general moral superiority, but the problem posed by Plato 's menor is whether morals can really teach. At Plato 's Meno, Meno first asked if Socrates could teach virtue, or could not get it, but it could be obtained naturally or in other ways. Socrates insisted that he did not even know what virtue was, so he could not teach it himself. Then he asked Men to try to describe him with virtue. Meno said virtue is the desire for money and health and other good things and has the ability to acquire them. He also said that virtue is wisdom and courage, but Socrates is not satisfied with the definition of Meno. Socrates asked how men can teach virtues if he could not give him a clear definition of virtue.