JASPER P.

BELLEZAS
MAED - TE 1
FOUNDATION OF EDUCATION
ARTICLE REVIEW – 1

In light of this magnificent piece of work, this topic deals with VIRTUE. For what
is virtue? Is it knowledge that needs to be taught? Is it a belief that should be practice
upon? This poses a wonderful and powerful message that needs to be heard by many,
if not all.

The goal for this article is to shed light on the idea of when people act virtuously; it is not
by knowledge but by true belief, which they receive not by teaching but by some kind of
divine gift. But then Socrates warns again that they will not really learn how virtue is
acquired until they first figure out what virtue itself is.

The general question is “How is virtue acquired? Can it be acquired by teaching?” The
question is asked in a conversation/ debate type manner.

The article shows that Socrates quickly turns the discussion into an investigation of
something more basic, namely, what such virtue is. Since Socrates denies knowing the
nature of virtue, while Meno confidently claims to know all about it, Socrates gets Meno
to try defining it. Most of this third of the dialogue is then an extended series of
arguments against Meno’s three attempts to define virtue.

First, we have the three main arguments:

1. Socratic method - in which Socrates refutes someone’s claim to knowledge by

revealing that one of their claims is contradicted by others that they also believe to be
true. For example, Meno’s initial claim that there are irreducibly different virtues for
different kinds of people is incompatible with his implicit belief that virtues cannot be
different insofar as they are virtues. And Meno’s definition of virtue as the ability to rule
over others is incompatible with his agreements that a successful definition of virtue
must apply to all cases of virtue and only to cases of virtue

2. Twofold objection: if someone does not already know what virtue is, how could he
even look for it, and how could he even recognize it if he were to happen upon it? The
dilemma is that we cannot learn either what we know or what we do not know, because
there is no need to learn what we already know, and we cannot recognize what we do
not yet know. Socrates tries to expose the false contrast between two things by
identifying states of cognition between complete knowledge and pure ignorance.

3. Going back to the initial question: Socrates criticizes Meno for still wanting to know
how virtue is acquired without first understanding what it is. Here Socrates leads Meno
to two opposed conclusions. First, he argues, on the hypothesis that virtue is
necessarily good, that it must be some kind of knowledge, and therefore must be
something that is taught. But then he argues, from the fact that no one does seem to
teach virtue, that virtue is not after all something that is taught, and therefore must not
be knowledge.

This concludes that when people act virtuously, it is not by knowledge but by true
belief, which they receive not by teaching but by some kind of divine gift. But then
Socrates warns again that they will not really learn how virtue is acquired until they first
figure out what virtue itself is.
 Based on the text: “With a moral philosophy like Meno, it is not surprising that
society’s endemic crime is reflected in an increasing level of violence in its educational
institution.

Plato regards education as a means to achieve justice, both individual justice and
social justice. According to Plato, individual justice can be obtained when each
individual develops his or her ability to the fullest. In this sense, justice means
excellence. For the Greeks and Plato, excellence is virtue. According to Socrates, virtue
is knowledge. Thus, knowledge is required to be just. From this Plato concludes that
virtue can be obtained through three stages of development of knowledge: knowledge
of one's own job, self-knowledge, and knowledge of the Idea of the Good.