Soc: What about this? Those people who, according to you, desire what is bad whilst believing that what is bad harms the person who gets it, don’t they recognise that it will harm them?
Meno: They must.
Soc: But don’t they presume that those who are harmed are wretched to the extent that they incur harm?
Meno: They must presume this too.
Soc: And don’t they presume that wretched people are in a sorry plight?
Meno: I think so.
Soc: Is there anyone who wishes to be wretched and in a sorry plight?
Meno: I think not, Socrates.
Soc: Well, Meno, since no one wants to be like this, no one wants what is bad. For to be wretched is to desire what is bad and obtain it, what else?
Meno: It looks as though you are speaking the truth, Socrates, and that no one wants what is bad
I was told by that which reveals that Socrates remains stuck at Dante’s 8th circle of hell…
Art by Zdzisław Beksiński
