The Conversation Between Meno And Socrates

In this short paper, I will discuss three reasons why the Meno is considered a transitional dialogue from early Socratic, depicting Socrates with historical accuracy, to middle Socratic where Plato uses Socrates as a character to present his theories of philosophy that Socrates did not discuss. In the first reason, I will discuss how the Meno is different from early Socratic dialogues in the sense that the interlocutor’s experience does not end in the similar fashion as Euthyphro of simply arriving at aporia and the dialogue ending. The second is the response Meno has to arriving at this state of aporia with his stingray speech to Socrates. The third reason solidifies Meno being a transitional dialogue with the presentation of Plato’s theory of recollection and the demonstration of the sample elenchus as a step toward truth after arriving to aporia from Socrates’ dialectic. In what we’ve come to call “Part 1” of the Meno (70a-80a), we find a similar process of conversation between Meno and Socrates and other interlocutors from the early Socratic dialogues. Meno claims to have knowledge on what virtue is and through conversation with Socrates on trying to find what virtue is in and of itself, Meno is brought to a

The dialogue sets itself up to be like a typical Socratic dialogue with the interlocutor leaving once he’s brought to his state of aporia, however is continues to an end which presents the positive effects of elenchus as well. Meno’s stingray speech presents the grievances of those “harmed” by elenchus and Socrates’ response shows that the process can actually be beneficial. With the sample elenchus of the slave boy, the final characteristic of Meno being a transitional dialogue, Plato reveals that Socrates’ method of dialectic does not only lead to the negative effect of “numbing”, but also to the gain of truth in the sense of the knowledge of the essence of moral