Socrates Meno: The search for unknown things
...ied with Socrates assertion that learning is simply a kind of recollection. In order to back up his claim, Socrates decides to give a demonstration as evidence that he is right. He calls over one of Meno’s Greek speaking slave boys. He tells Meno to pay close attention to whether the boy is “recollecting or learning.” (82b) At this time Socrates asks the slave boy a series of questions pertaining to a square which he has divided into four equal parts. During the conversation between Socrates and the slave boy, it is important to notice that Socrates does not teach him anything directly, he merely asks him questions which lead him to the right answer. Eventually the slave boy makes a mistake when answering one of Socrates questions. Socrates then proceeds to show the slave boy his mistakes, once again only through questions. During the course of the slave boy’s pursuit to come up with the right answer, he once again proclaims the wrong answer. Socrates shows him his mistake, and then points out to Meno that the slave boy has reached a state of aporia; the awareness that he doesn’t know the correct answer to the question. Socrates sees the state of aporia as being better than that of claiming that you know something, when you don’t know really know at all. This particular instance reflects that the slave boy is more virtuous than Meno due to the fact that he has a stronger character. Socrates believes that the slave boy is being benefited by his state of “aporia,” because he is more apt to go and seek the correct answer. Socrates goes on with his examination with the slave boy. To the original square, which was four feet in area, Socrates adds three more. After drawing diagonal lines that link the centers of each side of the larger square, he asks the slave boy if these diagonals cut each of the original-sized squares in half. Socrates' geometrical point here is that the diagonal of a square is the length the slave has been seeking, thus, it can be used as the base for a square double the area of the original. The slave is made to realize this only through answering Socrates' questions, not through any direct teaching. In this experiment, Socrates guides the slave boy through a series of geometric proofs in an effort to illustrate that the slave already possessed this knowledge and, therefore, that “learning” is not acquisition but recollection. Socrates maintains that the slave is simply recalling knowledge learned in a former incarnation. Socrates presents this experiment to Meno as strong evidence that learning is a recollection if the slave wasn’t being taught. The question that enters my mind regarding the experiment with the slave boy is the role of Socrates, and how he facilitates the slave boy’s production of the answer. The first possibility is that Socrates played no role in helping the slave boy produce the answer. Obviously this can be eli...