Dialogues

he would have been ready to tell all the world again and again that the double space should have a double side. Meno True. Socrates But do you suppose that he would ever have enquired into or learned what he fancied that he knew, though he was really ignorant of it, until he had fallen into perplexity under the idea that he did not know, and had desired to know? Meno I think not, Socrates. Socrates Then he was the better for the torpedo’s touch? Meno I think so. Socrates Mark now the farther development. I shall only ask him, and not teach him, and he shall share the enquiry with me: and do you watch and see if you find me telling or explaining anything to him, instead of eliciting his opinion. Tell me, boy, is not this a square of four feet which I have drawn? Boy Yes. Socrates And now I add another square equal to the former one? Boy Yes. Socrates And a third, which is equal to either of them? Boy Yes. Socrates Suppose that we fill up the vacant corner? Boy Very good. Socrates Here, then, there are four equal spaces? Boy Yes. Socrates And how many times larger is this space than this other? Boy Four times. Socrates But it ought to have been twice only, as you will remember. Boy True. Socrates And does not this line, reaching from corner to corner, bisect each of these spaces? Boy Yes. Socrates And are there not here four equal lines which contain this space? Boy There are. Socrates Look and see how much this space is. Boy I do not understand. Socrates Has not each interior line cut off half of the four spaces? Boy Yes. Socrates And how many spaces are there in this section? Boy Four. Socrates And how many in this? Boy Two. Socrates And four is how many times two? Boy Twice. Socrates And this space is of how many feet? Boy Of eight feet. Socrates And from what line do you get this figure? Boy From this. Socrates That is, from the line which extends from corner to corner of the figure of four feet? Boy Yes. Socrates And that is the line which the learned call the diagonal. And if this is the proper name, then you, Meno’s slave, are prepared to affirm that the double space is the square of the diagonal? Boy Certainly, Socrates. Socrates What do you say of him, Meno? Were not all these answers given out of his own head? Meno Yes, they were all his own. Socrates And yet, as we were just now saying, he did not know? Meno True. Socrates But still he had in him those notions of his⁠—had he not? Meno Yes. Socrates Then he who does not know may still have true notions of that which he does not know? Meno He has. Socrates And at present these notions have just been stirred up in him, as in a dream; but if he were frequently asked the same questions, in different forms, he would know as well as anyone at last? Meno I dare say. Socrates Without anyone teaching him he will recover his knowledge for himself, if he is only asked questions? Meno Yes. Socrates And this spontaneous recovery of knowledge in him is recollection? Meno True. Socrates And this knowledge which he now has must he not either have acquired or always possessed? Meno Yes. Socrates But if he always possessed this knowledge he would always have known; or if he has acquired the knowledge he could not have acquired it in this life, unless he has been taught geometry; for he may be made to do the same with all geometry and every other branch of knowledge. Now, has anyone ever taught him all this? You must know about him, if, as you say, he was born and bred in your house. Meno And I am certain that no one ever did teach him. Socrates And yet he has the knowledge? Meno The fact, Socrates, is undeniable. Socrates But if he did not acquire the knowledge in this life, then he must have had and learned it at some other time? Meno Clearly he must. Socrates Which must have been the time when he was not a man? Meno Yes. Socrates And if there have been always true thoughts in him, both at the time when he was and was not a man, which only need to be awakened into knowledge by putting questions to him, his soul must have always possessed this knowledge, for he always either was or was not a man? Meno Obviously. Socrates And if the truth of all things always existed in the soul, then the soul is immortal. Wherefore be of good cheer, and try to recollect what you do not know, or rather what you do not remember. Meno I feel, somehow, that I like what you are saying. Socrates And I, Meno, like what I am saying. Some things I have said of which I am not altogether confident. But that we shall be better and braver and less helpless if we think that we ought to enquire, than we should have been if we indulged in the idle fancy that there was no knowing and no use in seeking to know what we do not know;⁠—that is a theme upon which I am ready to fight, in word and deed, to the utmost of my power. Meno There again, Socrates, your words seem to me excellent. Socrates Then, as we are agreed that a man should enquire about that which he does not know, shall you and I make an effort to enquire together into the nature of virtue? Meno By all means, Socrates. And yet I would much rather return to my original question, Whether in seeking to acquire virtue we should regard it as a thing to be taught, or as a gift of nature, or as coming to men in some other way? Socrates Had I the command of you as well as of myself, Meno, I would not have enquired whether virtue is given by instruction or not, until we had first ascertained “what it is.” But as you think only of controlling me who am your slave, and never of controlling yourself⁠—such being your notion of freedom, I must yield