Meno's Paradox

191 Words1 Pages
Meno’s paradox (80d5) is more than just a linguistic puzzle. For Plato, the paradox has much broader consequences. First, the paradox is an obstacle for discovering appropriate Socratic definitions. Second, the paradox may give some indication that Plato was having misgivings concerning the approach toward discovering definitions. With this in mind, Plato answers the paradox with an elaborate response: what we normally call learning is just recollection. The theory of recollection as presented in the Meno contains two parts. First, is a general account of the theory of recollection which highlights the ways through which one learns; call this account the general theory. Second, a proof of this general theory is provided through a demonstration