Socratic Paradox
"But
the most absurd thing of all is that one cannot even get to
know their names or say who they were-except perhaps
one who happens to be a comic playwright. * The ones who
have persuaded you by malicious slander, and also some
who persuade others because they have been persuaded
themselves, are all very hard to deal with: one cannot put
any of them on the stand here in court, or cross-examine
anybody, but
one must literally engage in a sort of shadowboxing
to defend oneself, and cross-examine without anyone
to answer."