Meno:
καὶ τίνα τρόπον ζητήσεις, ὦ Σώκρατες, τοῦτο ὃ μὴ οἶσθα τὸ παράπαν ὅτι ἐστίν; ποῖον γὰρ ὧν οὐκ οἶσθα προθέμενος ζητήσεις; ἢ εἰ καὶ ὅτι μάλιστα ἐντύχοις αὐτῷ, πῶς εἴσῃ ὅτι τοῦτό ἐστιν ὃ σὺ οὐκ ᾔδησθα;
Socrates:
μανθάνω οἷον βούλει λέγειν, ὦ Μένων. ὁρᾷς τοῦτον ὡς ἐριστικὸν λόγον κατάγεις, ὡς οὐκ ἄρα ἔστιν ζητεῖν ἀνθρώπῳ οὔτε ὃ οἶδε οὔτε ὃ μὴ οἶδε; οὔτε γὰρ ἂν ὅ γε οἶδεν ζητοῖ—οἶδεν γάρ, καὶ οὐδὲν δεῖ τῷ γε τοιούτῳ ζητήσεως—οὔτε ὃ μὴ οἶδεν—οὐδὲ γὰρ οἶδεν ὅτι ζητήσει.
TRANSLATION:
Meno:
And in what way, Socrates, will you seek that which you do not at all know what it is? For having proposed it, what sort of thing of the things you do not know will you seek? Even if, in the best case, you should happen upon it, how would you know that it is that which you had not known?
Socrates:
I understand what you want to say, Meno. Do you see that you are bringing to shore (spinning, drawing out, landing, conjuring, launching) an eristic argument, that it is consequently not possible for a man to seek for what he knows, nor for what he does not? He would not seek for what he knows -- for he knows it, and there is no need at all to such a one for searching -- nor for what he does not know -- for he does not know what he will be looking for.
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