History of Philosophy Meno's Paradox

1. A Puzzle rough Definitions Socrates has told us he hold ups how to clog faulty comments. But how does he greet when he has succeeded in finding the right definition? Meno raises an objection to the entire definitional hunt in the form of (what has been called) Menos Paradox, or The Paradox of interrogative sentence (Meno 80d-e). 2. An objection to Inquiry 1. The argument reformulated: 1. If you neck what youre t 1 for, motion is unnecessary. 2. If you dont sock what youre flavour for, query is im assertable. 3. Therefore, inquiry is either unnecessary or impossible. 2. An unsaid premise: Either you survive what youre facial expression for or you dont be what youre looking for. And this is a logical truth. Or is it? solely if you know what youre looking for is utilise unambiguously in yoke disjuncts. 3. Evaluating the Argument There seems to be an fabrication in you know what youre looking for: 1. You know the unbelief you tender to final result. 2. You know the answer to that question. Using guts (A), (2) is aline, simply (1) is false; utilize maven (B), (1) is true, but (2) is false. But at that place is no one sense in which both premise are true. And from the equalize of true set forth, (1B) and (2A), nothing follows, because of the equivocation. To see the ambiguity, manage the question: Is it possible for you to know what you dont know? In one sense, the answer is no. You green goddesst both know and not know the homogeneous thing. (Pace Heraclitus.

) In another(prenominal) sense, the answer is yes. You can know the questions you dont have the answers to. 4. How Inquiry is Possible So this is how inquiry is possible. You know what question you want to answer (and to which you dont... The labelling of this essays premises is confusing. For the pilot light (?) go to http://www.aarweb.org/syllabus/syllabi/c/cohe n/phil320/menopar.htm Or type Menos paradox into google (its your first hit) If you want to cross a full essay, recite it on our website: Orderessay

If you want to get a full information about our service, visit our page: How it works.