Who? What? When? Where? And why? Often our days consist of these questions. There are mostly present when dealing with small matters. Most people do not spend their alone time pondering the mysteries of the universe. There are, of course, exceptions. Among those exceptions to the world are a group of people who claim to be philosophers, or “lovers of wisdom.” One of these philosophers is the well-known Socrates, who often used words and images to trap his friends and opponents in a tightly woven net that could only be cut with critical – and existential - thinking. Plato’s Meno, translated by Benjamin Jowett, is a dialogue containing a lengthy discussion between Socrates and one of his philosophical friends, Meno. Basically, the discussion …show more content…
In the opinion of Socrates, virtue cannot be taught, but is an instinct that becomes natural to a person when they choose to be virtuous. Essentially, Socrates is saying that to become virtuous, one must first dedicate themselves to being virtuous. Now, from a Biblical standpoint, there seems to be at least a small degree of truth to what Socrates is saying here. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit – God Himself – dwells in us when we humble ourselves and call upon Jesus for forgiveness and salvation. From that point onward, the Holy Ghost will act as our guide and our conscience until we reach Heaven. On the other hand, it seems that everybody at least has some degree of morality when they are born. For some people, that conscience is blotted out because they sink into a life of sin. For others, the conscience is simply ignored out of stubbornness. However, it does appear that everybody, or at least most people, has a little bit of a conscience because most people try to lead good lives. However, that is where the issue of big and little sins comes into play, but that will not be discussed here. I would speak of Meno’s opinion, but fortunately he agrees with