In the reading, Laches and Socrates are collaborating together to come up with a way to help people be virtuous. But before they began advising, they wanted to make sure they both agreed on the definition of virtue. When they discovered virtue was too broad to be useful, so they chose to be more specific. They both agreed courage was virtuous and went on to define courage. Laches defines courage by saying, “if a man is willing to remain at his post and to defend himself against the enemy without running away, then you may rest assured that he is a man of courage” (190E). Socrates agrees that the situation Laches described was courageous, but he still thinks that definition is lacking. Socrates gives examples to point out how Laches didn’t cover
