0097 Meno 78d

Jun 10, 2023 · 14m

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Socrates concludes his criticism of Meno's third answer about virtue by labouring the point that an action in itself is neither virtue nor vice [not correcting Meno's notion that the...

Socrates concludes his criticism of Meno's third answer about virtue by labouring the point that an action in itself is neither virtue nor vice [not correcting Meno's notion that the whole of virtue or vice is a particular action], but is virtue if done with a part of virtue (it follows that it is vice if done with a part of vice). Socrates not only shuts down any future answer about virtue which is a particular action, but he also shuts down the addition of justice or soundmindedness or any other part of virtue by treating these as parts of virtue, while he is asking about virtue as a whole. He is making it very difficult for Meno to give a fourth answer about virtue, although this is precisely what he is about to ask Meno.

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