The Dialogues of Plato in Five Volumes, Vol. 2 (of 5): Translated into English with Analyses and Introductions

A scholarly translation and commentary written in the late 19th century. The volume presents English translations of several Platonic dialogues alongside analyses and introductions. Its focus is Socratic philosophy—questions of virtue, knowledge, justice, rhetoric, and the soul—designed to guide readers through both the texts and their philosophical stakes. The opening of the volume lays out editorial notes about formatting and sidenotes, a contents list (including Meno, Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Phaedo, and Gorgias), and then turns to an extensive introduction to Meno. Jowett sketches the dialogue’s central question—whether virtue can be taught—showing how Socrates first demands a definition of virtue, dismantles Meno’s shifting answers, and contrasts “right opinion” with knowledge; he also previews the appearance of Anytus and the claim that statesmen act by inspired opinion rather than teachable knowledge. He introduces Plato’s theory of recollection and immortality as a response to the paradox of inquiry, and broadens the discussion with reflections on the ideas, their treatment across other dialogues, and comparisons with later philosophy. The text then begins Meno itself: Meno asks if virtue is teachable; Socrates insists they define virtue; Meno offers definitions (virtue by role, then power to rule, then desire and ability to obtain good), each of which Socrates refutes or shows to be circular. After Meno likens Socrates to a numbing torpedo, Socrates answers the inquiry-paradox by invoking recollection and demonstrates it with a slave-boy, who, through questioning, moves from confident error to recognizing his ignorance as a step toward learning.