Review #1: Plato's Meno
My first review of the 26 reviews challenge will be on the Meno. While many things are addressed in the Meno--including the theory of recollection and the distinction between true belief and knowledge--in my review I will focus only on the central question of the dialogue: of whether virtue can be taught. So, basically, this dude Meno wants to know if virtue can be taught, and Socrates is all: "Hold up, Meno, how am I supposed to talk about virtue when I don't know what virtue is? Let's see what virtue is first." So they have a little Socratic back-and-forth. First Meno is all: "Virtue depends on the subject: virtue is different for man, woman, child, slave..." But Socrates isn't having that. Socrates is all: "Well, they've got to have something in common, if you're gonna call them virtues for each one. There's got to be some underlying form that links them all, as, for example, there is some underlying unity that allows you ...