<p> Worksheet on Plato’s Meno (second half: 80c–100b)</p><p>Recall the problem that Meno points out to Socrates at 80d. If Meno were right on this point, then it would be impossible to ever learn anything, i.e., to ever gain knowledge about something that you didn’t know before. In reply, Socrates gives a theory about what knowledge is. (He gets this theory from priests, priestesses, and poets.) </p><p>1. What is Socrates’ theory of learning (81a-82a)?</p><p>2. Does Socrates’ theory of learning solve the problem that Meno pointed out? Explain.</p><p>3. What is the point of the geometry lesson between Socrates and Meno’s boy attendant? What does Socrates mean when he says: “You see, Meno, that I am not teaching the boy anything, but all I do is question him” (82e)?</p><p>4. What does Socrates conclude from the geometry lesson (85b-86c)? Do you think that he’s right to draw this conclusion? Explain.</p><p>5. After explaining what happens when people learn, Socrates and Meno then return to their original question: whether virtue can be taught. At 87c, Socrates makes the very important assumption that people “cannot be taught anything but knowledge”. Do you think he’s right here? Can you think of an example of something that can be taught that’s not knowledge?</p><p>6. What is common to the various examples of fathers and sons given at 93a-94c? What conclusion does Socrates draw from them (94d-96d)?</p><p>7. How are knowledge and true opinion different (98a)? That is, what makes knowledge something other than merely true opinion?</p><p>8. What is Socrates’ final conclusion about virtue? Is it knowledge? Can it be taught? </p><p>9. Why does Socrates call virtuous leaders “divine” (99c-d)?</p>