At the end of the Meno (around
100b) Socrates says that if Meno can convince Anytus of the things they
have concluded in the dialogue he will provide a benefit to the
Athenians. Given the background of the Apology what do you think Socrates means by this. What is the overall topic of the Meno? and how is it relevant to the Athenians or to us for that matter?
_Phaedo_Discussion
WORTH 10 POINTS
In the Phaedo Socrates is preparing for his death and consoling his friends that death is not a bad thing. There are echoes of the end of the Apology here. Much of the dialogue deals with arguments for the survival of the soul after death. We have already seen in the Meno the famous argument for the pre-existence of the soul to explain the puzzle of learning (cf Meno 81e ff); Aristotle in his Posterior Analytics
(76a ff) will provide another solution to this puzzle that doesn't
require the preexistence of the soul. My question here regards Plato's
general conception of the body in the the Phaedo.
He famously states that the proper aim of philosophy is the practice of
dying and death (64a). He goes on to claim that only the philosopher
(lover of wisdom) can have genuine virtues; non-philosophers overcome
fear by greater fears and overcome desires by stronger desires (69a-c);
virtues require knowledge and only the philosopher has real knowledge so
only the philosopher can actually be virtuous. What is Plato's
underlying attitude towards the body in this dialogue as you see it?
What essentially is the human being for Plato as you can gather from
this dialogue? is he correct in this? why or why not? (address any or
all of the above in your posting and end your posting with a question of
your own).
