[10]
The same
rule applies in literature and in other departments
[p. 381]
of learning. And do you really believe that those
who are credited with powers of divining, can, for
that reason, tell whether the sun is larger than the
earth, and whether it is as big as it seems to be?
Or whether the moon shines by its own light or by
that of the sun? Or do you think that they understand the motions of the sun and moon and of the
five stars, which are called' planets '? Your reputed
diviners do not claim that they can answer any of
these questions; nor will they profess to tell whether
geometrical figures are correctly drawn or not, for
that is the business of mathematicians, not of seers.
4. "Now let us consider matters within the
purview of philosophy: When the question is as to
what is morally right, or morally wrong, or as to
what is neither the one nor the other, do we usually
have our doubts resolved by diviners? In fact,
do we often consult them in such a case? Certainly
not, for problems of this kind belong to philosophers.
Cicero: De Senectute De Amicitia De Divinatione. With An English Translation. William Armistead Falconer. Cambridge. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, Mass., London, England. 1923.
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