Introduction and Summary for Part II: Plato’s Meno

The chapter summarizes the main lessons to be taken from the two studies of Plato’s Meno that follow (Chapters 4 and 5), drawing out the significance of the various turning points in the dialogue. It explains why Plato makes Socrates abandon the search for a definition of virtue, and turn to something like a geometrical approach instead (here called the ‘iconic method’) as a solution for discovering ‘what it is’ about a concept, especially for concepts that defy unitary definition. The nature of this enquiry into ‘what it is’, and the difference between investigating a concept and applying it, are brought out. The parallels between Plato’s rejection of Socrates’ quest for essentialist definition and the work of the later Wittgenstein are noted, and the chapter explains how Plato’s hypothetical method would be ideally suited to explaining open-ended concepts (if it were well done, which it is not).