PHL244H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Thought Experiment, Innatism
Document Summary
Begins as an inquiry about virtue: virtue: the excellence of being human. Becomes an inquiry about inquiry when he raises meno"s paradox: paradox: you don"t know what you know, searching for a truth, searching for a truth you don"t know. If one doesn"t know at all about it, you won"t know you found it. Socrates disarms it by saying that we can look for things you already know: inquiry brings about what you know. Potentially becomes reality: inquiry is bringing about things you know, innatism: (both in us) we have knowledge already. If recollection theory is correct than there is no transfer from teacher to student: a teacher can guide the knowledge with question. Thus virtue is knowledge: it can be taught and is pursued by inquiry. Virtue is human nature perfected: if virtue = knowledge than human nature is rational. But fear, anger or curiosity causes us to make irrational decisions.
