There are several parallels between the ideas presented in Plato's Socratic dialogue Meno and the ideas suggested by Walt Whitman's poetry in the first edition of his work Leaves of Grass Less presented as a philosophical work and the 1855 edition Leaves of Grass (Leaves) than a work of poetry, the ideas presented within each have some commonalities with the others like a ". program of poetry" (Allen 120), meaning that the poet had a set of ideas to communicate. Although Allen quotes Whitman as saying that the poems were written with "unconscious or predominantly unconscious intentions," the poet was not even aiming for the " art". or aestheticism" (120), then the ideas presented in the poems can be analyzed in not only a poetic, but a philosophical light. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"'? Get an original essay In the Socratic dialogues, a central thought that Plato proposes is rather abstract, called anamnesis in Greek (Silverman, bibliography). It is the recollection of knowledge from a source other than that which can be learned in this life. It is, essentially, a statement that earthly knowledge has an otherworldly, otherworldly, or, at least, immaterial source. Plato says Socrates explains it first and most convincingly in the dialogue called Meno, named after the eminent Thessalus to whom Socrates directs most of his arguments. The topic of this dialogue was originally virtue, but through the process of elimination the speakers agreed that virtue is a type of knowledge or wisdom. The question that remains, however, is how one can gain that knowledge or wisdom. Socrates and his companions agree that "virtue will not be acquired either by nature or by teaching. Whoever has it, obtains it by divine dispensation without much thought" (Hamilton, Cairns, 383). Another question is: how is this divine dispensation achieved? This leads to a central philosophical thought shared by Plato and Whitman; that is, reincarnation. Socrates stated his belief in reincarnation earlier in the Meno, referring to a slave boy who came across some principles of geometry, not because he had been taught it, but was led to it by careful questioning on Socrates' part. "Either he acquired at a certain moment the knowledge he has now, or he has always possessed it. If he has always possessed it, he must always have known it; if instead he acquired it at a previous moment, he cannot have been in this life,” (370) This idea recurs throughout the 1855 book Leaves of Grass. Whitman refers to reincarnation more or less indirectly several times, but states it bluntly in the "Song of Myself" section. “And as for you, life, I believe you are the remains of many deaths, / No doubt I have died ten thousand times before” (The Library of America 86). At the end of "Song of Myself," the poet proclaims "If you still want me, look for me under the soles of your boots" (88). At the end of "The Sleepers", when the poet has flown all night and day, using day and night as metaphors for death and life, he says "I will duly pass the day, O my mother, and duly return to you;/You will not give the dawn again with more certainty than you will give again to me,/Not the womb will give the child in its time with more certainty than I will be given by you in its time" (117) But how does this relate to Socrates' idea that, during death (or, for the same reason, before birth) the soul of the human being is in communion with all true knowledge, and therefore only needs to "remember" her during his or her life? The answer lies in Whitman's wayhe believed somewhat in Transcendentalism. Allen explains: "...the message he is trying to convey through the arrangement of his poems and his group titles is that all physical life rests on an invisible but strongly felt spiritual world (an important doctrine of the American Transcendentalists)" ( 69). Since there is reincarnation of souls and a "strongly felt" and influential spiritual world, couldn't all knowledge, or at least some knowledge and insight, be gained in that passage between life and death? Whitman talks about transcendental experiences in life, where he accesses special knowledge or wisdom. This is a Platonic idea, that wisdom is “arised from experience, though not directly derived from experience” (Russell 136). knowledge that Whitman acquires by experiencing the transcendent, not necessarily by interacting with the world itself. He may be stimulated by the world, but Whitman shows that the world is what draws him into this transcendent experience, not what he learns. it comes from the real material world. While Whitman is definitely in love with the experiences of the material world, he seems to suggest that these experiences and the reasoning of the world are not what wisdom is. Rather, they are the clues to wisdom, something Plato would call “remembrance” (Hamilton, Cairns 370). Through a sort of memory of Christ's crucifixion (although he does not say Jesus' name) Whitman shows that not only will he be reincarnated in the future, but that he was something else in the past. separate look at my own crucifixion and bloody coronation! I remember... I take up the hamlet above, The rock tomb multiplies what has been entrusted to it... or to any tomb, The corpses rise again... the gashes heal.... the closures roll away. I march forward with reconstituted power, one of an endless procession of media" (71) Whitman began by saying that he was left "stunned" (70). This experience, or flashback, in a previous life, left him with a " power found." We must assume that this is some sort of transcendental or mystical experience, in which Whitman remembers a past life, or perhaps someone else's past life. It is the same statement as Socrates that true knowledge or wisdom is acquired outside of life and is remembered only in it? It is not so clear in Whitman, but it suggests the transcendent wisdom suggested by the sensory experience “Quick wind! Space! My soul! Now I know that what I guessed is true; What I divined as I lazed on the grass, What I divined as I lay alone in my bed... and again as I walked the beach under the pale morning stars." (59) Whitman addresses the problem of the source of knowledge towards the end of "Song of Myself." ...but what does eternity indicate?" (79), but then addresses more directly the question of knowledge acquired in the afterlife or before life. Far below I see the first immense Nothingness, the vapor from the nostrils of death , I know I was there too... .I waited invisible and forever, and I slept while God carried me through the lethargic fog, and I took my time....and I suffered no harm from the fetid carbon A long have I been held close....long and longImmense was the preparation for me, Faithful and friendly the arms that helped me (80) Here Whitman is describing the time before his birth, perhaps after the death of his previous life . He is describing a time when he "slept" and "all strength was constantly employed to complete and delight me" (80). This is similar to the slave auction sequence (123-124), when the poet claims that the "globehas been preparing" for quintillions of years to create this man or woman. His idea of ​​the universe having a will does not, however, include the universe imparting that knowledge to him, either during this lifetime or between lifetimes. The most Whitman will say is "I walk pleasantly and well, / Where I walk I cannot define, but I know it is good, / The whole universe indicates that it is good." , at least in 1855Leaves of Grass agree with Plato that all knowledge is acquired in the state between life and death and remembered during life. The maximum commitment to which Whitman will be the possession of a type of transcendent knowledge , acquired by the universe and obtained by being pushed from the material world to a state in which such knowledge can be acquired. This is an important distinction between the two belief systems Whitman can claim to possess "the origin of all poems" ( 28), which implies that he possesses universal and important knowledge, but does not tell us where this knowledge comes from. Nor will it explain how exactly it is derived, simply that Nature is the vehicle of knowledge. The most he will say is that "You will hear all the parts and filter them for yourself" (28) Indeed, in an interesting parallel between Meno and Leaves of Grass, both Socrates and Whitman address children and discuss the nature of knowledge . The parable of the slave boy is presented as evidence for Socrates' anamnesis argument, through the slave's new understanding of geometric truths through being questioned, rather than taught (described above). The sequence of the child and the grass in Whitman's poem, ("A child said, What is grass? He brings it to me with both hands; / How could I answer the child?.... I no longer know what it is him." (31)) shows Whitman's reluctance to fix knowledge and illustrates a major difference between Plato and Whitman. Both share the idea of ​​an important spiritual world and the recurrence of multiple lives for each soul. Plato and Whitman may have had similar cosmic worldviews, but epistemologically they were very different. Although Plato and Whitman agree that "the soul must be immortal" (Hamilton, Cairns 371) and "Is it wonderful that I am immortal? For all are immortal" (The Library of America 141), they disagree on what happens during the time between life and death. Nor do I agree on how, or if, knowledge is gained or lost during that time. There are many other less central ideas that occur in both Meno and Leaves of Grass. One is the interesting verbal occurrence of “virtue” and “manly.” “Manly” occurs six times in Leaves of Grass of 1855, including the preface. Usually, interestingly, it is combined with a description of something good or virtuous. The root of the word virtue is the Latin vir, meaning “man” (Skeat 546). The word entered the English language specifically describing "manly" things, which was an accepted explanation of virtue at the time. Adhering to the qualities of manhood meant having virtue and being virtuous. (Note, however, that in Plato's text the Greek word for virtue has an entirely different origin.) The entire Meno is concerned with the definition of virtue. Socrates even goes so far as to explain that different types of virtues are better in men than in women. "...the virtue of a man consists in skillfully managing the affairs of the city, so as to help his friends and injure his enemies while taking care not to suffer any harm to himself. Or if you want the virtue of a woman, she is easily described. She must be a good housewife, careful of her provisions and obedient to her husband" (Hamilton, Cairns, 355). How does Whitman address different types of male and female virtues? Whitman takes the time, like Socrates, todescribe the differences in virtue between men and women. In "I Sing the Body Electric" Whitman mentions several times the different things he admires in men and women. The male is no less the soul, nor more. . . . he too is in his place, he too has all the qualities. . . . he is action and power. . . . the color of the known universe is in him, contempt suits him and appetite and challenge suit him, the greatest and most ferocious passions. . extreme bliss and extreme pain are good for him. . . . pride is for him,The widespread pride of man is soothing and excellent to the soul;Knowledge becomes him. . . . he always likes it. . . . he puts everything to the test of himself, (122)Active, powerful and aggressive virtues suit the male. Even "contempt", a usually negative word, is considered a virtue. Contrast this with the female who also contains “all the qualities” but “tempers them” (121). The adjectives he uses to describe the female are in direct opposition to those of the male. Socrates and Whitman agree, for the most part, on the difference in desirable virtues in male and female. When Whitman first uses the word "virtuous" in Leaves, it is to describe a young man, whom he loves, but who is not virtuous in the traditional sense of the word. The boy I love, becomes a man not by derivative power but by his own right, evil, rather than virtuous by conformity or fear, fond of his significant other, enjoying his steak well, unrequited love or a slight cut worse than a cut from wound,First ride a horse, fight, hit the target, sail a boat, sing a song or play the banjo (The Library of America 83)If this passage is analyzed and compared to Socrates' comparison of the specific virtues of sex above, some of Socrates' own manly virtues are also mentioned in the description of this boy. Whitman's boy-man is somewhat warlike, as Socrates describes his virtuous man, and both men have the ability and propensity to protect themselves from the "injuries" of other men. This defense against other men appears to be an important part of masculinity for both Socrates and Whitman. Furthermore, self-determination, or self-reliance, appears as a virtue for both Socrates and Whitman. Whitman's boy "becomes a man not through derivative power but in his own right." The virtuous man of Socrates manages the affairs of the city and, above all, helps friends, hurts enemies and defends himself. Self-sufficiency is a masculine virtue agreed upon by both Plato and Whitman. The next time Whitman uses “virtuoso,” however, he uses a poetic conceit. In "A Song for Occupations" (89) he compares the effectiveness of his poem's message to the works of a "principal or charity owner." "If I were to you like the boss who employs you and pays you, would that satisfy you? / The learned, the virtuous and the benevolent, and the usual terms; / A man like me, and never the usual terms." He is asking his readers what they are trying to get from him. He does not ask readers to acquire "a practical and ornamental education," but rather to take it as they find it. He is telling his readers that he will be "on par" with them. Here he is contrasting himself with the "virtuoso". It's just a man, and not the usual guy, who creates his poetry for people to read. He doesn't consider himself "virtuous," as a teacher arriving in a new city might hope to be described. In both cases, in the 1855 Leaves, Whitman referred to virtuousness (which has a slightly different connotation from virtue, which he mentions briefly in "Song of Myself" along with evil) in a negative light. Like Socrates in the Meno, Whitman offers no fixed definition of virtue. It only tells us what it is not, or gives us examples of not being virtuous. This is very similarto the arguments on virtue in the Meno. The group (Socrates, Meno, and Anytus) has finally, after much discussion about the definition of virtue, decided: "While the nature of virtue as a whole is still in question, do not suppose that you can explain it to anyone." as for his part, or with any kind of similar explanation, you say this and that of virtue, but what is it?" In the Meno there is no definition of virtue. Both Socrates and Whitman seem able to recognize this, as when Whitman says that "the universe says it is good," but they cannot, and do not, attempt to describe virtue exactly, as related to virtue and separate from it, he displays in the 1855 Leaves more often than he does. virtue. Whitman mentions the word "manly" four times in the poetic text, and three times out of four it refers to something good. Although "manly" has a generally good connotation in English, it seems to be a much easier quality for Whitman to admire. than the vague idea of ​​"virtue." The fact that the words have similar root meanings may have meaning for Whitman, and he applies the word "manly" in constructions where the word "virtue" or "virtuous" might suffice. In “Song of Myself” he describes the “manly corn” as something he could worship (51). In this section, it is clear that strong and healthy things in nature are to be revered for Whitman, but things with masculinity, whether in a general or sexually referential way, are also to be admired. Similarly, in a “Song for Occupations” Whitman admires “manly exercises” (97). At the end of "Song of the Answerer" Whitman asks: Do you think it would be good to be the writer of melodious verse, Well, it would be good to be the writer of melodious verse; But what are the verses besides the fluid character that you could have? ....or beyond nice manners and behavior? Or beyond a virile or emotional act of an apprentice?...or an old woman? O man who has been in prison or is likely to be in prison" (132) Here Whitman uses the adjective "manly" to refer to the importance of what he would call the good deed (could it be a virtuous deed?) of an apprentice . it includes an old woman capable of manly acts. Manly is, for Whitman, a term applicable not only to men. Finally, in "There Was a Child Went Forth", Whitman describes a domestic scene and includes the only negative mention of the "manly" term in the poem. It must be assumed that this family scene describes, at least in part, the poet's family. The mother at home calmly places the dishes on the table for dinner, The mother with soft words... cleaning her cap and the habit. word, the tight pact, the cunning bait, (139) Whitman is describing, perhaps in a memory of his father, an example of the negative aspects possible in the state of manhood He implies with the combination of words ("strong, self-sufficient", two alliterative words with positive connotations, then "manly, mean" another alliteration both with negative connotations, and the line ends with the almost assonance of "angry, unjust", also with negative connotations) the limits of virility. He places the father, who the reader can imagine sitting harshly at the table, in direct contrast to the "mild" mother, busy doing some nice housework, and it becomes clear that, although the poet has previously admired manliness, he is not always considered an unobjectionable positive attribute of the poet. The Meno, a very famous and widely read philosophical work, was perhaps read by Whitman and quoted in his poetry. Although there are similarities between the two works, it seems that the development of the ideas contained in them, which began twenty-three hundred years before Whitman wrote, was expanded and made variations by him. This is no doubt due to Whitman's belief in.