phy, ever do
anything of the sort? That custom was patronized by those who at that time
were called Sophists, of which number Georgias of Leontium was the first
who ventured in an assembly to demand a question,--that is to say, to
desire any one in the company to say what he wished to hear discussed. It
was a bold proceeding; I should call it an impudent one, if this fashion
had not subsequently been borrowed by our own philosophers. But we see
that he whom I have just mentioned, and all the other Sophists, (as may be
gathered from Plato,) were all turned into ridicule by Socrates; for he,
by questioning and interrogating them, was in the habit of eliciting the
opinions of those with whom he was arguing, and then, if he thought it
necessary, of replying to the answers which they had given him. And as
that custom had not been preserved by those who came after him, Arcesilaus
re-introduced it, and established the custom, that those who wished to
become his pupils were not to ask him questions, but themselves to state
their opinions; and then, when they had stated them, he replied to what
they had advanced; but those who came to him for instruction defended
their own opinions as well as they could.
But with all the rest of the philosophers the man who asks the question
says no more; and this practice prevails in the Academy to this day. For
when he who wishes to receive instruction has spoken thus, "Pleasure
appears to me to be the chief good," they argue against this proposition
in an uninterrupted discourse; so that it may be easily understood that
they who say that they entertain such and such an opinion, do not of
necessity really entertain it, but wish to hear the arguments which may be
brought against it. We follow a more convenient method, for not only has
Torquatus explained what his opinions are, but also why he entertains
them: but I myself think, although I was exceedingly delighted with his
uninterrupted discourse, that still, when you stop at each point that
arises, and come to an understanding what each party grants, and what he
denies, you draw the conclusion you desire from what is admitted with more
convenience, and come to an end of the discussion more readily. For when a
discourse is borne on uninterruptedly, like a torrent, although it hurries
along in its course many things of every kind, you still can take hold of
nothing, and put your hand on nothing, and can find no means of
restraining that rapid d
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