This example shows the scholastic method in its earliest form,--the
statement of the thesis, followed by the simple citation of authorities,
_pro_ and _con_. Later writers added the conclusion which they wished to
support, or at least indicated it in the statement of the thesis. This,
of course, robbed the method of much of its stimulus to independent
thinking. Other modifications also appeared. See the examples on pages
58 ff., 121 ff. The point to be noted here is that in the "Yes and No"
Abelard struck out definitely the method which was followed for
centuries in a large part of university instruction. How great a part it
played can be understood only by an extended study of university
history. A brief discussion of the subject is given on pages 35-37. The
stimulating way in which Abelard used it was potent in drawing students
to Paris. Among those who came to hear him was John of Salisbury.


(b) _A Pre-University Scholar: John of Salisbury_

John of Salisbury (c. 1120-1180), "for thirty years the central figure
of English learning," "beyond dispute the best-read man of his time," is
a good example of the more serious students among those who travelled
abroad for study in the early days of the revival described above. He
spent twelve years (1136-1148) at Paris and at Chartres. His
"Metalogicus" (completed about 1159) is perhaps the best contemporary
account of educational affairs in France in the twelfth century.

The book is interesting now mainly for its account of the writer's
training, for its advocacy of liberal studies as a preparation for
logic, and for its vigorous argument in favor of using all of the works
of Aristotle then known, several of which had only recently become