The Art of Asking Questions
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the imprisoning of his soul in an im perfect material world of changing objects his knowledge of the ideal was erased from his conscious mind. Gradually, however, at least some men, especially when helped by a sagacious teacher, were able to re collect portions of this perfect knowl edge. Indeed, if man did not already possess a dim, subconscious grasp of the essence of truth, beauty, and goodness, there would be no point in instructing him in such matters, for he would be unable to recognize what was at issue in any particular case. There would be little point in discuss ing, for example, whether this act was more just than that act, unless the people involved in the discussion had some prior understanding of the nature of true justice. Given this metaphysic, teaching became a matter not of telling but of aiding the student to recall what he already subconsciously knew. Socrates therefore developed his method of teaching by questioning. He invited his students to explain to him the nature of truth, beauty, and goodness. He challenged their imperfect an swers by asking the kind of additional questions that would lead them to recognize the inadequacy of their ideas. Under such prodding a student was led to construct and reconstruct
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