This style of inquiry is a good example of how Socrates reasons about hard and unfamiliar things by starting with easy and familiar ones. Begin with what you know—with distinctions and examples that you’re sure about. Then try to map them onto the problems that you aren’t so sure about. See where the fit is easy and where it’s hard, and ask why. If someone is struggling to give the kind of answer that you’re hoping to talk about, show what that kind of answer would look like in a setting where it’s easy to understand.
