Hyl. They must.
Phil. Can any doctrine be true that necessarily leads a man into an absurdity?
Hyl. Without doubt it cannot.
Phil. Is it not an absurdity to think that the same thing should be at the same time both cold and warm?
Hyl. It is.
Phil. Suppose now one of your hands hot, and the other cold, and that they are both at once put into the same vessel of water, in an intermediate state; will not the water seem cold to one hand, and warm to the other[792]?
Hyl. It will.
Phil. Ought we not therefore, by your principles, to conclude it is really both cold and warm at the same time, that is, according to your own concession, to believe an absurdity?
Hyl. I confess it seems so.
Phil. Consequently, the principles themselves are false, since you have granted that no true principle leads to an absurdity.