The Leading Question Elicits a Nonresponsive Answer1
Alexinus Asks, Menedemus Answers
(from Diogenes Laertius's Lives of Eminent Philosophers)
ONE DAY, Alexinus asked Menedemus, the son of Clisthenes, “Have you stopped beating your father?”
Menedemus replied, “Why, I was not beating him and have not stopped.”
Alexinus insisted that he clear up the ambiguity in his answer with a simple “yes” or “no.”
To which Menedemus replied, “It would be foolish for me to follow your rules when I can stop you at the threshold.”
Endnotes
1 Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers II.135. ⇑
