michael.smith - What would Socrates do?

Excerpt from Plato’s Meno (Soccio, 1995)

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Socrates: …Do not all men…desire the good? Meno: I think not. Socrates: There are some who desire evil? Meno: Yes. Socrates: Do you mean that they think the evils which they desire, to be good; or do they know that they are evil and yet desire them? Meno: Both, I think. Socrates: And do you really imagine, Meno, that a man knows evils to be evils and desires them notwithstanding? Meno: Certainly I do. Socrates: And desire is [for] possession? Meno: Yes, [for] possession… Socrates: Well, and do those who, as they say, desire evils, and think that evils are hurtful to the possessor of them, know that they will be hurt by them? Meno: They must know it. Socrates: And must they not suppose that those who are hurt are miserable in proportion to the hurt which is inflicted upon them? Meno: How can it be otherwise? Socrates: But are not the miserable ill-fated? Meno: Yes, indeed. Socrates: And does anyone desire to be miserable and ill-fated? Meno: I should say not, Socrates. Socrates: But if there is no one who desires to be miserable, there is no one, Meno, who desires evil; for what is misery but the desire and possession of evil? Meno: That appears to be the truth, Socrates, and I admit that nobody desires evil.

Reference

Soccio, D. J. (1995). Archetypes of wisdom. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.