| Virtue in the Cave: Moral Inquiry in Plato's Meno Contributor(s): Weiss, Roslyn (Author) |
|
 |
ISBN: 0739132180 ISBN-13: 9780739132180 Publisher: Lexington Books OUR PRICE: $57.41 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: September 2008 Annotation: In this radical new interpretation of Plato's Meno, Roslyn Weiss exposes the farcical nature of the slave-boy-demonstration and challenges the widely held assumption that the Meno introduces "Platonic" metaphysical and epistemological innovations into an otherwise "Socratic" dialogue. She shows that the Meno is intended as a defense not of all inquiry but of moral inquiry alone, and that it locates the validity of Socratic method in its ability to arrive not at moral knowledge but at the far more modest moral true belief. Through a careful, and provocative, reading of Plato's Meno, Weiss identifies serious problems in its orthodox interpretations, offering an alternative that is responsive to the dialogue's drama. Virtue in the Cave will appeal not only to students of ancient philosophy and the classics, but also to anyone who is interested in how to live right in a world of moral uncertainty. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Philosophy | History & Surveys - Ancient & Classical - Philosophy | Ethics & Moral Philosophy - Literary Criticism | Ancient And Classical |
| Dewey: 170 |
| Physical Information: 0.7" H x 5.9" W x 8.9" (0.79 lbs) 240 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - Ancient (To 499 A.D.) - Cultural Region - Greece |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Virtue in the Cave is a study of Plato's Meno. Taking the dialogue's central theme to be the question of what virtue is, this book explores the limits of moral inquiry. It argues that, unlike mathematical problems that can be resolved definitively, and unlike technical enterprises whose success can be objectively assessed, moral matters can be only tentatively settled by reasoned argument-at least in the material world to which we all are confined. Whereas Meno is not satisfied with an inquiry whose final result falls short of knowledge, Socrates sees value in joint moral investigation that culminates in true opinion. This study attends closely to the literary aspects of the dialogue and to its rhetorical nuances, raising doubts about Socrates' allegiance to the metaphysical doctrines-transmigration of souls and the theory of recollection-that he himself introduces. It suggests that Socrates tailors these notions specifically to Meno, in order to encourage him to pursue doggedly the inquiry into virtue, an inquiry he is all too prepared to abandon when the going gets rough. |