Two Papers Done

I’m now finished with my language paper, which consists of a rough translation, a revised translation, and a commentary on the translation. I think this one may be interesting for even those who have not read Plato’s Meno, but, as is the Johnny way, I would recommend reading the short dialogue for yourself. It’s interesting enough. The translation occurs in the middle of the dialogue. This is a brief introduction for those of you who want to read the passage I’ve selected to translate:
At the beginning, Meno, an apprentice of the sophist Gorgias, comes to Socrates and asks him whether he is able to teach virtue or not. Socrates admits that he is not even sure what virtue itself is, let alone the characteristics of virtue. He then urges Meno to begin an inquiry with him into virtue itself. Meno (whose name, if translated, would be renedered as “I remain”) is very stubborn about this and continually lists off types of virtues, such as justice and wisdom, and all sorts of things, without ever being able to answer what it is about each of the things that makes them all virtue. Eventually, Meno becomes very confused and insults Socrates, likening him to a torpedo fish that makes all who touch it become numb. Socrates, according to Meno, puts his interlocutors in a state of intellectual numbness, and has flummoxed Meno. Meno had claimed early to know virtue, but at the point immediately preceding my passage, Socrates suggests that he had never actually known, and the state of numbness is only indicative of his lack of knowledge. Therefore, Socrates urges Meno again to pursue the inquiry into the essence of virtue, and Meno’s sophistical reply is the first part of my translation.

I’ve also finished my lab paper on the early chemists. This one is easy to grasp, I think, because I didn’t choose a very technical topic. There’s actually more in there about Ptolemy’s philosophies than about chemistry.

I’m doing well. I have my painting class tonight. My seminar party will be on Wednesday. Therefore, I need to read Aristotle’s Poetics quickly and begin working on my mathematics paper as soon as possible. I love y’all. May you be as blessed as I am. (I’m very, very, very blessed.)