1 8 THE SCIENCE Of LOGIC 



an invaluable training in exact reasoning. The following outline may be 

 found helpful to academic disputants. 



The professor fixes upon a thesis, appoints a pupil to &quot; defend &quot; it, and 

 one or more others to &quot; object &quot; to it. At the appointed time the defender 

 (&quot; defendens&quot; &quot; respondens &quot;) enters the pulpit or bema, announces the thesis, 

 adding, if desirable, a very brief exposition and proof. The objector (&quot; ob- 

 jiciens &quot;) then asserts the contradictory of the thesis, proving his assertion by 

 a syllogism. The defender resumes with the introductory phrase, &quot; Sic argu- 

 mentaris, Domine &quot; (&quot; This is your argument, Sir &quot;), repeats the syllogism 

 slowly and clearly, deliberating on the way in which he ought to deal with 

 each premiss, the consequence, and the conclusion. Having repeated the 

 syllogism, and also the introductory phrase, he again takes up and repeats 

 once more the major, and now passes judgment on it : &quot;I grant the major &quot; 

 (&quot; Concedo majorem &quot;), if he considers it true ; &quot; I distinguish the major &quot; 

 (&quot; Distinguo majorem &quot;), if he sees in it a true sense and a false sense, which 

 two he will separate by the addition of some well-chosen technical phrase to 

 show the true sense and the false one, qualifying the false by &quot; I deny &quot; 

 (&quot;Nego&quot;), and the true by &quot;I grant&quot; (&quot; Concedo &quot;) ; &quot;Please prove the 

 major &quot; (&quot; Faveas probare majorem &quot;), if he considers the major entirely 

 false ; &quot; Let the major pass &quot; (&quot; Transeat major &quot;), if he considers it irrelevant, 

 or does not wish to pass definite judgment on it. In general, the objector 

 should so construct his syllogisms that the major will not admit of total denial. 

 Should the defender thus request his adversary to prove the major, the former 

 need not proceed to the minor of the original syllogism, but listen to and deal 

 with the proof brought forward for the major. If the defender has granted, 

 or &quot; distinguished &quot; the major, he proceeds to repeat the minor, and either 

 &quot; denies &quot; or &quot; centra-distinguishes &quot; it (&quot; Nego minorem &quot; or &quot; Contra-dis- 

 tinguo minorem &quot;). It is only when he &quot; denies &quot; either premiss, or &quot; distin 

 guishes &quot; .one and &quot; contra-distinguishes &quot; the other, that he has a right to 

 &quot; deny &quot; the &quot; consequence &quot; or probative force (consequentia\ and therefore 

 also the conclusion (consequens), of the syllogism (&quot;Nego consequens et 

 consequentiam &quot;). To &quot; centra-distinguish &quot; the minor is to introduce the 

 same distinction into it as into the major, granting the member correspond 

 ing to that denied, and denying the member corresponding to that admitted, 

 in the case of the major. It may sometimes be necessary to introduce 

 a further distinction into either or both members of a distinction in order to 

 sift fully the true from the false : this process is called &quot; subdistinguishing &quot; 

 (&quot; Subdistinguo &quot;). 



The objector then continues the debate by proceeding to prove syllogis- 

 tically the proposition denied by the defender, in the sense in which it was 

 denied, commencing by the words, &quot; I prove the major (or minor) denied &quot; 

 [&quot; Probo majorem (or minorem} negatam &quot;] ; and the defender proceeds to 

 deal with the new syllogism as before. 



The objector may, at any stage, request or allow the defender to explain 

 the precise force of the distinctions he has made in an answer : which the 

 defender does as briefly and clearly as possible, introducing his explanation 

 by the words, &quot; I explain the distinction (distinctions) introduced &quot; [&quot; Et explico 

 distinctionem datam (distinctiones datas) &quot;]. Various courses may here 

 present themselves to the objector. 



