(_y_) _Second objection_: Why is this elevation
in this particular place?
_Answer_: Because God whose ways are
inscrutable, willed it so.
We should therefore desist from examining
too closely the reasons, which we
can never hope to fathom.
D. _Refutation of the original arguments_:
_Reason 1._ Invalid because Earth and Water are spheres
with the same center.
_Reason 2._ Invalid because of the external influence of
Universal Nature, counteracting the internal influence
of Particular Nature.
_Reason 3._ Invalid because it is sphericity of the sea and
not the lowness of the land which interferes with one's
view at sea.
_Reason 4._ Invalid because Water does not flow to the
tops of mountains, but ascends thither in the form of
vapors.
_Reason 5._ Invalid because Water imitating the moon in
one respect, need not imitate it in all.[61]
This brief obviously illustrates much more than the form of the
mediaeval Disputation. It leaves one in no doubt as to the difference
between the natural science of the Middle Ages and that of our own time.
It also illustrates the weakness of the scholastic method when applied
to questions which modern science would settle by experiment. The
argument abounds in misstatements of fact, the conclusion is incorrect,
and the "reasoning" by which it is reached can be described, from the
modern point of view, only as grotesque.
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