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20 THE SCHOLASTIC CURRICULUM AT CAMBRIDGE for here, in the logical thrusts and parries of Answerer and Op- ponent, is the heart of the disputation. In every case, the opponent follows a carefully plotted line of syllogisms designed to trap the answerer into a position where he may be logically forced, step by step, into admitting the exact opposite of his thesis. The syllogistic presentation is mandatory, as James Duport says in his rules for students: "Dispute always Syllogistically, at least Enthemematically and as much as you can Categorically." 4S But, the syllogistic attack was not to produce a cut-and-dried crop of logical forms. "When you dispute," admon- ishes Duport, "be sure you gett the Arguments perfectly by heart, 8c take heede of that dull, cold, idle, way of reading Syllogismes out of a paper, for so one can never dispute with life and courrage." Indeed, the "life and courrage" which should characterize the good disputant demands that ". . . . . . you thinke it not enough barely to pronounce, & propound your arguments, but presse them, and urge them, & call upon your adversary for an answer, and leave him not till you have one," though, "If your Antagonist answer right, say you are satisfied, and so passe on to another Argument." There was no disgrace in admitting that the answerer had stood firm against one line of attack, and the opponent could shift to another simply by announcing: "Arguo ex alio capite." Duport finally recommends, as befits a good Aris- totelian, a middle way between timidity and heat: "In your dis- putations, be not too cold, & faint, nor yet too hot, & fiery, fierce, and wrangling ... a sober, calme, sedate deportment of speech, is best even in disputing." When the opponent had soberly and calmly proposed his first syllogism, the respondent was supposed to repeat it exactly, a feat of memory and training which becomes automatic: "When you are Respondent, ever more repeat the syllogisme before you answer." 49 Repeating the syllogism fixes the argument in the minds of the audience, makes sure the answerer has the point, and, incidentally, gives him a moment to think of a reply, which may be along one of several possible lines. The respondent may deny outright a premise, which the opponent will then have to prove this was a delaying action sometimes used, though quite legitimate and sometimes necessary. Another and by far the commonest reply was to distinguish the meaning of any one of the terms (subject or predicate of a premise) of the syllogism in such a manner as to show that the conclusion of the syllogism invalidly follows from the premises or is harmless to the an-
THE FRAMEWORK OF SCHOLASTICISM swerer's position. Or, the answerer might retort, that is, turn the conclusion of the opponent's syllogism into a proof of his thesis. In extremis, the answerer sometimes got away with a "Nego argumentum.' 3 The usual course, as we have said, was to distinguish according to a prescribed form. "If you answer by distinguishing, propound both members of the distinction and then apply it." 50 For exam- ple, should the opponent propose the syllogism: The good man is rewarded on earth. But reward on earth makes eternal reward unnecessary. Therefore eternal reward is unnecessary for the good man, the answerer, having repeated the syllogism, might elect to distinguish the term "reward." He would say: "Adequately and inadequately. The good man is rewarded inadequately on earth, I concede. Adequately, I deny." He will then "counterdistin- guish" 51 the term "reward" as it occurs in the minor premise, and conclude: "Under the above distinction I deny the conse- quent and the consequence"; that is, the conclusion of the opponent and the logical illation, or connection, of the argument. After this very superficial summary of technique, we may turn back to the line of the second opponent in the Boyes disputation. The exchange is worth careful observation, not only because it shows in detail the method in operation, but also because the text, unique in itself, demonstrates how agile the actors could be. One can almost feel the tension of the disputants at certain points and fill in the murmurous applause of the audience. The opponent begins, "soberly and sedately" enough, with the syllogism (we are translating freely): Where knowledge of a thing suffices, experience of the ought more than suffice. thing But even the experience of is punishment not sufficient deterrent. Therefore, much less the threat of punishment. The argument, an "a minori" or "a fortiori" is answered by Boyes's denying the consequence of the major premise, that is, he denies that where threat is sufficient, experience ought to be more sufficient. The opponent, held now to prove his major premise, rejoins with an enthymeme based upon a scholastic axiom: "The end of contemplation is action. Therefore, experience exceeds knowledge 21
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Page 3: ForBartley and Catherine Costello
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