The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Second Story of Meno, by Unknown

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Title: The Second Story of Meno
A Continuation of Socrates' Dialogue with Meno in Which
the Boy Proves Toot 2 is Irrational, A Millennium Fulcrum
Edition [Copyright 1995]

Author: Unknown

Release Date: July 6, 2008 [EBook #254]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SECOND STORY OF MENO ***

MENO II

A CONTINUATION OF SOCRATES' DIALOGUE WITH MENO
IN WHICH THE BOY PROVES ROOT 2 IS IRRATIONAL

By Socrates

A Millennium Fulcrum Edition [Copyright 1995]

Socrates: Well, here we are at the appointed time, Meno.

Meno: Yes, and it looks like a fine day for it, too.

Socrates: And I see our serving boy is also here.

Boy: Yes, I am, and ready to do your bidding.

Socrates: Wonderful. Now, Meno, I want you to be on your guard,
as you were the other day, to insure that I teach nothing to the boy,
but rather pull out of his mind the premises which are already there.

Meno: I shall do my best, Socrates.

Socrates: I can ask more of no man, Meno, and I am certain that
you will do well, and I hope I will give you no call to halt me
in my saying if I should say too much, in which you would feel I
was actually teaching the boy the answer to this riddle.

Meno: No, Socrates, I don't think I will have to call you on
anything you might say today, for the most wondrously learned men
of the group of Pythagoras have spent many hours, weeks, and even
months and years toiling in their manner to arrive at the mystic
solutions to the puzzles formed by the simple squares with which
we worked the other day. Therefore, I am certain to regain my
virtue, which I lost the other day, when I was so steadfastly
proven by you to be in error in my statement that the root of a
square with an area of two square feet was beyond this boy,
who is a fine boy, whom we must make to understand that he should
do his best here, and not feel that he has done any wrongness by
causing