"meno" - читать интересную книгу автора (Plato)

Soc. Yes, I have.

Men. And did you not think that he knew?

Soc. I have not a good memory, Meno, and therefore I cannot now tell
what I thought of him at the time. And I dare say that he did know,
and that you know what he said: please, therefore, to remind me of
what he said; or, if you would rather, tell me your own view; for I
suspect that you and he think much alike.

Men. Very true.

Soc. Then as he is not here, never mind him, and do you tell me:
By the gods, Meno, be generous, and tell me what you say that virtue
is; for I shall be truly delighted to find that I have been
mistaken, and that you and Gorgias do really have this knowledge;
although I have been just saying that I have never found anybody who
had.

Men. There will be no difficulty, Socrates, in answering your
question. Let us take first the virtue of a man-he should know how
to administer the state, and in the administration of it to benefit
his friends and harm his enemies; and he must also be careful not to
suffer harm himself. A woman's virtue, if you wish to know about that,
may also be easily described: her duty is to order her house, and keep
what is indoors, and obey her husband. Every age, every condition of
life, young or old, male or female, bond or free, has a different
virtue: there are virtues numberless, and no lack of definitions of
them; for virtue is relative to the actions and ages of each of us
in all that we do. And the same may be said of vice, Socrates.

Soc. How fortunate I am, Meno! When I ask you for one virtue, you
present me with a swarm of them, which are in your keeping. Suppose
that I carry on the figure of the swarm, and ask of you, What is the
nature of the bee? and you answer that there are many kinds of bees,
and I reply: But do bees differ as bees, because there are many and
different kinds of them; or are they not rather to be distinguished by
some other quality, as for example beauty, size, or shape? How would
you answer me?

Men. I should answer that bees do not differ from one another, as
bees.

Soc. And if I went on to say: That is what I desire to know, Meno;
tell me what is the quality in which they do not differ, but are all
alike;-would you be able to answer?

Men. I should.

Soc. And so of the virtues, however many and different they may