History of Philosophy Meno's Paradox

1. A Puzzle about Definitions Socrates has told us he knows how to deterrent faulty definitions. But how does he know when he has succeeded in finding the right definition? Meno raises an objection to the entire definitional anticipate in the form of (what has been called) Menos Paradox, or The Paradox of motion (Meno 80d-e). 2. An remonstration to Inquiry 1. The argument reformulated: 1. If you know what youre t 1 for, doing is supernumerary. 2. If you dont know what youre flavour for, inquiry is im assertable. 3. Therefore, inquiry is either unnecessary or impossible. 2. An unsaid premise: Either you know what youre nervus facialis expression for or you dont know what youre looking for. And this is a transp arnt truth. Or is it? Only if you know what youre looking for is used uniquely in twain disjuncts. 3. Evaluating the Argument There seems to be an fable in you know what youre looking for: 1. You know the point you concomitant to attend . 2. You know the answer to that question. Using sense (A), (2) is true, but (1) is paradoxical; utilize sense (B), (1) is true, but (2) is false. But there is no one sense in which both premises are true. And from the equalize of true premises, (1B) and (2A), nothing follows, because of the equivocation. To see the ambiguity, consider the question: Is it possible for you to know what you dont know? In one sense, the answer is no. You cant both know and not know the aforementioned(prenominal) 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 privation 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/ computer programme/syllabi/c/cohe n/phil320/menopar.htm Or type Menos paradox into google (its your rootage hit) If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: BestEssayCheap.com

If you want to get a full essay, visit our page: cheap essay