A Beginner’s Guide to Plato: Reading The Meno

SALON DETAILS:

• Facilitated by Mark Cwik
• Three-week virtual study via Zoom, Monday evenings, 6.00-8.15 pm GMT, 28 February, 7 & 14 March 2022
• £80 for three-meeting study
• Recommended edition: Five Dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Meno, Phaedo, by Plato, translated by G.M.A. Grube, revised by John M. Cooper, Hackett Publishing, 2nd edition, 2002, ISBN-13: 978-0872206335

Bust of Plato, Wellcome

With its straightforward presentation and approachable style, the Meno makes an excellent entry point into the dialogues of Plato. The Meno gets right to the heart of the matter with its opening line: Meno’s question to Socrates of whether virtue (also translated as ‘excellence’) can be taught. Far from being able to answer, Socrates tells Meno that he has no idea of what virtue even is, nor does anyone else he’s ever met. As they then proceed to try to find a solid definition for virtue, Socrates and Meno address some of philosophy’s most basic and profound questions: what can we know, how can we know it, how can we teach, how can we learn?

The Meno presents a multifaceted view of Plato’s teacher and philosophical protagonist Socrates — at times thoughtful, playful, humble, flirtatious, ironic, and slightly abrasive. Add to that a very intriguing demonstration of the Pythagorean Theorem by an untutored slave boy, plus a short encounter with an Athenian politician who will later bring Socrates to trial on charges that will lead to his death. In all, the Meno provides a classic example of Plato’s chosen philosophical format, the dramatic dialogue, where the drama of the dialogue is sometimes just as important as words and ideas of the speakers.

If you have any questions about this study, please contact the facilitator, Mark Cwik.