Socrates and Plato's Meno
Excerpt from The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature (1937) p. 399.
| Socrates, born at Alopeke near Athens in 469 B.C., was the son of the sculptor Soproniscus and the midwife Phaenarete. He fought at Potidaea (432-29), where he is said to have saved the life of Alcibaides, and at Delium (424), where his firm demeanour amid the rout was noted. He was married to Xanthippi, who had the reputation of a scold, but whose sterling qualities (according to a passage in Xenophon's 'Memorabilia') were recognized by her husband. | |
He was a man of uncouth appearance, humorously described in Xenophon's 'Symposium'. Being entirely free from ambition or wish for wealth, he avoided public offices, but was twice placed in positions where he showed his courage in opposing the political passions of the moment; in 406 after the battle of Arginusae, as president of the Assembly, he resisted the popular clamour for the trial of the generals by an illegal procedure; and under the rule of the Thirty he refused to obey an order to arrest a person whom they had condemned to death. In 399, after a trial described in the 'Apology' of Plato and in that of Xenophon, he was sentenced to death on a charge brought by Meletus, Anytus, and Lycon of introducing new deities and corupting youth. He had made enemies by interrogating all who had a reputation for wisdom and refuting them; his novel ideas and his perception of hte weak points in democratic government were unpopular with the Athenians, who attributed to his teaching the misdeeds of Alcibiades and his associate Charmides, and of Critias (one of the Thirty), all disciples of Socrates. His execution was postponed for a month, for the sacred trireme had just been despatched to Delos and during its absence no execution was allowed to polute the city; on its return, in a scene described by Plato in the 'Phaedo', he drank, as required, the draught of hemlock.
In Plato's 'Apology," Socrates gives the following defence for his behavior:
I will refer you to a witness who is worthy of credit; that witness shall be the god of Delphi [Apollo] -- he will tell you about my wisdom, if I have any, and of what sort it is. You must have known Chaerephon; he was early a friend of mine, and also a friend of yours, for he shared in the recent exile of the people, and returned with you. Well Chaerephon, as you know, was very impetuous in all his doings, and he went to Delphi and boldly asked the Oracle to tell him whether any one was wiser than I was, and the Pythian prophetess answered, that there was no man wiser. Chaerephon is dead himself; but his brother, who is in court, will confirm the truth of what I am saying.
Why do I mention this? Because I am going to explain to you why I have such an evil name. When I heard the answer, I said to myself, What can the god mean? and what is the interpretation of his riddle? for I know that I have no wisdom, small or great. What then can he mean when he says that I am the wisest of men? And yet he is a god, and cannot lie; that would be against his nature. After long consideration, I thought of a method of trying the question. I reflected that if I could only find a man wiser than myself, then I might go to the god with a refutation in my hand ... Accordingly I went to one who had the reputation of wisdom, and observed him -- his name I need not mention, he was a politician whom I selected for examination -- and the result was as follows: When I began to talk with him, I could not help thinking that he was not really wise, althought he was thought wise by many, and still wiser by himself; and thereupon I tried to explain to him that he thought himself wise, but was not really wise; and the consequence was that he hated me, and his enmity was shared by several who were present and heard me. ...
Then I went to one man after another, being not unconscious of the enmity which I provoked, and I lamented and feared this: but necessity was laid upon me, -- the word of God, I thought, ought to be considered first. And I said to myself, Go I must to all who appear to know, and find out the meaning of the oracle. And I swear to you, Athenians, by the dog I swear! -- for I must tell you the truth -- the result of my mission was just this: I found that the men most in repute were all but the most foolish; and that others less esteemed were really wiser and better. (The Dialogues of Plato, Erich Segal editor, pp. 6-7.)
After Socrates is convicted of the charges brought against him, he is given the opportunity to propose a sentence. His prosecutor proposes death, it is assumed that Socrates will propose exile. Instead he suggests the following:
And what shall I propose on my part, O men of Athens? Clearly that which is my due. And what is my due? What returns shall be made to the man who has never had the wit to be idle during his whole life; but has been careless of what the many care for -- wealth, and family interests, and military offices, and speaking in the assembly, and magistracies, and plots, and parties. Reflecting that I was really too honest a man to be a politician and live, I did not go where I could do no good to you or to myself; but where I could do the greatest good privately to every one of you, thither I went, and sought to persuade every man among you that he must look to himself, and seek virtue and wisdom before he looks to his private interests, and look to the State before he looks to the interests of the State; and that this should be the order which he observes in all his actions. What should be done to such an one? Doubtless some good thing O men of Athens, if he has his reward; and the good should be of a kind suitable to him. What would be a reward suitable to a poor man who is your benefactor, and who desires leisure that he may instruct you? There can be no reward so fitting as maintenance in the Prytaneum, of men of Athens.... (p. 21).
The Ontology and Epistemology of Plato's Meno
| Ontology | Epistemology | |
| Abiding World | Forms (e.g The Form of Beauty) | Pure Reason |
| Concepts - Ideas (The Concept of Beauty) | Understanding | |
| Phemonenal World | Particular Objects (Individual Beautiful Entities) |
Belief |
| Images (Imitations of beautiful things: paintings, plays) | Conjecture |
For Socrates, knowledge cannot be about things in the material/phenomenal world for such things are transitory. Knowledge is something abiding, unchanging and, therefore, concerns itself with ideas and the forms.
How do we know ideas such as virtue? Socrates uses the myth of the immortal soul: we know beauty because our soul has recollection of things that it knew in a previous life. Socrates seems to be saying that reasoning is an innate ability that gives us access to the forms through understanding. Direct knowledge or apprehension of the forms happens after death when the soul ascends to the realm of the forms. Once again, Socrates resorts to a myth to explain pure reason.
