On line 80a, Meno starts to liken Socrates to a sting ray. Socrates then proceeds to pick apart Meno's meaning in likening him to something, as well as saying his choice in animal is not even accurate.
What specifically intrigues me about Socrates' reaction to this is how he describes himself. He says that, if being stung by a sting ray and becoming numb is like talking to him and becoming perplexed, then the sting ray must be numb as well since he too is perplexed. For claiming to be such a perplexed person, he spouts off a lot of well developed thoughts and questions. Is it that Socrates is being intelligently coy with Meno, or is it that he is just that intellectual that the way his mind questions things is that precise? I tend to side with a mix of the two, meaning that Socrates, while being knowingly coy and playing with Meno's seemingly easily swayed mind, Socrates is honestly trying to work out what virtue is.
The other half of the sting ray business that I think is notable is how Socrates calls out Meno's intentions with trying to compliment Socrates. Meno is fishing for compliments since all Socrates does is put him down, and Socrates isn't having it. Though, not for social reasons, but for the philosophical one's that Socrates takes this stance. Socrates is essentially yelling at him for getting off topic. For what Socrates brings up from this side of the sting ray comment, it's interesting to look back and re-read what Meno said to see if Socrates was right in Meno's intentions, or was Socrates just mad Meno strayed off topic?
Benjam!n is Mr. Stonick, by the way
ReplyDeleteOkay, so... I tooootallyy agree with pretty much everything that you've said in this little blog. However, in regards to whether Socrates is being coy with Meno or whether he wants to figure out what the meaning of virtue is himself, I'm going to have to side with the former. I just get this overwhelming sense of unexplainable knowledge from Socrates... I don't know if it's the way the text is worded, or the way he seems to get me to agree with almost every point he brings to the table, but in my opinion, Socrates knows exactly what he's doing. Maybe he doesn't know exactly what virtue is... but I get the sense that he's okay with that. I feel like he already knows enough for his own self. Haha maybe I'm not seeing this correctly. Socrates just seems to have it goin on, though.
ReplyDeleteI think most of what you said is definitely true. However, I think that Socrates doesn't display anger at all in the dialogue. I also don't think that he puts Meno down. I believe he just shows Meno the faults in his arguments, and does it in a gentle manner, much like constructive criticism.
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