The Glossators were at once faced with a problem. Their initially reverent and literal approach to the text had to coexist with a number of inconsistencies in the text. Of this dilemma was born the Scholastic method characteristic of the whole of medieval thought. A topic is discussed by collecting authoritative texts and arguments that are or seem to be contradictory and then resolving the apparent contradiction by looking for suitable general principles and distinctions. It is the principles, vocabulary, maxims, and concepts of great generality produced by this method that constitute the
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