philebus   

idea of that which is the subject of enquiry; this unity we shall find

in everything. Having found it, we may next proceed to look for two,

if there be two, or, if not, then for three or some other number,

subdividing each of these units, until at last the unity with which we

began is seen not only to be one and many and infinite, but also a

definite number; the infinite must not be suffered to approach the

many until the entire number of the species intermediate between unity

and infinity has been discovered-then, and not till then, we may, rest

from division, and without further troubling ourselves about the

endless individuals may allow them to drop into infinity. This, as I

was saying, is the way of considering and learning and teaching one

another, which the gods have handed down to us. But the wise men of

our time are either too quick or too slow, in conceiving plurality

in unity. Having no method, they make their one and many anyhow, and

from unity pass at once to infinity; the intermediate steps never

occur to them. And this, I repeat, is what makes the difference

between the mere art of disputation and true dialectic.

Pro. I think that I partly understand you Socrates, but I should

like to have a clearer notion of what you are saying.

Soc. I may illustrate my meaning by the letters of the alphabet,

Protarchus, which you were made to learn as a child.

Pro. How do they afford an illustration?

Soc. The sound which passes through the lips whether of an

individual or of all men is one and yet infinite.

Pro. Very true.

Soc. And yet not by knowing either that sound is one or that sound

is infinite are we perfect in the art of speech, but the knowledge

of the number and nature of sounds is what makes a man a grammarian.

Pro. Very true.

Soc. And the knowledge which makes a man a musician is of the same

kind.

Pro. How so?