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The power of Socrates' technique is that it forces him to investigate many of his centrally held beliefs simultaneously with the person he is communicating; any questions that arise from his audience, or possible objections to his line of reasoning, must be addressed. This capacity is necessarily lacking when it is placed upon paper because any questions or objections that might be evoked in the reader inevitably go unanswered. For example, when Socrates argues, "So one may say this about everything; all other human activities depend on the soul, and those of the soul itself depend on wisdom if they are to be good. According to this argument the beneficial would be wisdom, and we say that virtue is beneficial?" Meno merely replies, "Certainly." (Meno, 89a). The issue here is that readers, viewing this line of reasoning from a differing perspective, could easily raise a number of questions that Socrates, in his discussion with Meno, is not forced to consider.
First, Socrates' reliance upon the soul to lead into the discussion of virtue could be attacked upon the assertion that insufficient evidence exists to contend that there are such things as souls. Plato believes that souls must exist because they explain the competing inclinations people can possess; Socrates' base desires may indicate to him that drinking the hemlock is undesirable, but the higher capacities of his soul direct him otherwise. Meno and Crito fail to sufficiently question this line of reasoning, but a reader might ask Socrates...
Second, a reader could also take a different point-of-view regarding the elevated status of wisdom and knowledge. A Christian might contend that virtue is singularly based upon faith in God, and that any further investigations into the workings of the world are fundamentally irrelevant. However, Socrates is necessarily unable to account for these ideas because he has been bound by Plato to static logic.
Essentially, it is obvious that the character "Socrates" is limited by the characters Plato surrounds him with. In this respect, the real Socrates must only have been limited by the minds he found himself amongst. His utter adherence to his method, unfortunately, means that it can only live on in this restricted manner. So, "Socrates" the character cannot have been a great teacher, while the man doubtlessly was. Specifically what the dialogues truly reveal is Plato's power as a writer and a theorist; he manages to look at his own formulations from a number of angles, and thus, generate a timeless series of philosophical inquiries. Plato makes his appreciation for the Socratic Method clear while he abandons it. Nevertheless, the central message that still comes across is that no knowledge, wisdom, or truth can be arrived at in the absence of serious deliberation.
Bibliography:
1. Plato. "The Writings of Plato." Classics of Western Philosophy: Fifth Edition. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1999.
Bibliography:
1. Plato. "The Writings of Plato." Classics of Western Philosophy: Fifth Edition. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing, 1999.
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