Socrates Vs Meno Analysis

Socrates states that the human soul is immortal and it is reborn again, but it’s never destroyed. Socrates also points out that the soul has learned everything that is to know. Therefore, when we “learn” about something, it is merely just a “recollecting” what our soul’s have learned in the past. This idea is essentially the basis of the argument between Socrates and Meno. Socrates tries to prove this to Meno by calling over one of Meno’s servant and confirms that the boy has no knowledge of mathematics. At first, the boy seemed to have no knowledge about Socrates problem. But, through step-by-step questions, the boy was able to provide a correct answer to Socrates problem. Therefore, Socrates states that, since he had no knowledge of geometry in his life, he must have already known it and he was able to
I completely deny his theory and what I believe Socrates have shown in his example is that he simply directed the boy towards the right answer. In one instance, Socrates states, “ 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 b himself at a loss, and as he does not know, neither does he think he knows”(plato page 11). This example shows that the boy gave wrong answer several times, but Socrates simply points out where he has gone wrong, and then the boy starts over until he finally is lead to the right answer. If a person is directed or guided towards an answer, it doesn’t show that the person is recollecting past knowledge. What the example provided by Socrates portray is that the boy was able to figure out the correct answer after he has been given several other facts about the problem. This essentially means that the boy was using his reasoning skills to provide a correct