Virtue in the Cave: Moral Inquiry in Plato's Meno

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.