Previous
Meno
A young man who serves as Meno’s slave and who has spent his entire life with Meno’s family. While Socrates and Meno discuss the nature of virtue, this young man stands by and watches. At one point, Socrates calls him over and asks if he knows anything about geometry. When the slave says he doesn’t, Socrates proceeds by asking him a number of questions about a collection of squares he draws in the sand. Slowly but surely, Meno’s slave successfully answers these questions, thereby proving Socrates’s point that a person can “recollect” knowledge that his soul has already acquired. When the slave eventually becomes confused about a certain question, Socrates points out that he is in a better position than he was before the conversation began, since at least now the young man is aware of that which he does not know. Going on, Socrates then helps him answer this difficult question, though he never tells the slave anything. In this way, it becomes clear that teachers are important figures as long as they help coax out the intellectual abilities that a person already possesses.
Meno’s Slave Quotes in Meno
The Meno quotes below are all either spoken by Meno’s Slave or refer to Meno’s Slave. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Meno Quotes
SOCRATES: You realize, Meno, what point he has reached in his recollection. At first he did not know what the basic line of the eight-foot square was; even now he does not yet know, but then he thought he knew, and answered confidently as if he did know, and he did not think himself at a loss, but now he does think himself at a loss, and as he does not know, neither does he think he knows.
MENO: That is true.
SOCRATES: So he is now in a better position with regard to the matter he does not know?
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
This conversation takes place while Socrates quizzes Meno’s slave about geometry. Wanting to give Meno an example of how it’s possible for people to access knowledge their immortal souls have already acquired, Socrates asks Meno’s slave—who has never studied geometry—to answer a number of questions about squares he draws on the ground. To Meno’s surprise, the slave provides the correct answer to all of Socrates’s initial questions, at which point Socrates asks the young man if he thinks he will be able to figure out the next question. Based on his success, the slave says that he thinks he will Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis.
SOCRATES: What do you think, Meno? Has he, in his answers, expressed any opinion that was not his own?
MENO: No, they were all his own.
SOCRATES: And yet, as we said a short time ago, he did not know? — That is true.
SOCRATES: So these opinions were in him, were they not? — Yes.
SOCRATES: So the man who does not know has within himself true opinions about the things that he does not know? — So it appears.
SOCRATES: These opinions have now just been stirred up like a dream, but if he were repeatedly asked about these same things in various ways, you know that in the end his knowledge about these things would be as accurate as anyone’s.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Throughout Meno, Socrates frequently summarizes the conclusions he and Meno have just made, effectively going through their investigations step by step and restating their findings in simpler language. This is yet another example of his commitment to finding unambiguous, straightforward answers. In this passage, though, Socrates does more than simply repeat what he and Meno have determined. As he rehashes the fact that Meno’s slave was able to answer geometrical questions even though he’s never studied geometry, he slowly introduces a new idea regarding “true opinions.” Whereas Socrates’s original point had to do with the difference between learning new information Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectet
Get the entire Meno LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Meno’s Slave Character Timeline in Meno
The timeline below shows where the character Meno’s Slave appears in Meno. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Meno
To prove that “learning is recollection,” Socrates turns to Meno’s slave , a young man who has never been taught geometry. Drawing squares on the ground,...
(full context)
During the geometry lesson, Socrates asks Meno’s slave a question the young man thinks he can answer, but as their conversation continues, he...
(full context)
Having established that Meno’s slave has “benefited from being numbed,” Socrates tells Meno to observe how he brings the young...
(full context)
