Meno Socrates Definition Of Virtue

368 Words2 Pages
Like, many other words, virtue is quite hard to define. For example, what is love? courage? hope? justice? happiness? One might argue that these are all parts of virtue, but what exactly are they? In Meno, Socrates has a hard time grasping what the true meaning of virtue is, because Meno, does not have a true meaning. In addition, Meno repeatedly just stirs the pot, meaning he gives numerous examples and talks around virtue, but never says the essence of virtue. Why does the word “virtue” seem to be undefinable? Moving on, Meno somewhat defines virtue as, “to desire beautiful things and have the power to acquire them” (Plato: Meno—77 B). However, Socrates begins to question him, and continue to get no where. Backtracking, Meno says, “there