Questio de aqua et terra (60-69)

(60) Propter causam vero efficientem investigandam, prenotandum est quod tractatus presens non est extra materiam naturalem, quia inter ens mobile, scilicet aquam et terram, que sunt corpora naturalia; et propter hec querenda est certitudo secundum materiam naturalem, que est hic materia subiecta; nam circa unumquodque genus in tantum certitudo querenda est, in quantum natura rei recipit, ut patet ex primo Ethicorum. (60) But for the investigation of the efficient cause we must note in advance that the present treatise does not go beyond the scope of nature, for it is confined to mobile existence, to wit water and earth, which are natural bodies; and therefore we are to look for such certainty as is consonant with natural order, which is here our subject-matter; for concerning every kind of thing we are to seek the degree of certainty of which the nature of the thing is capable, as is clear from the first Ethicorum.
(61) Cum igitur innata sit nobis via investigande veritatis circa naturalia ex notioribus nobis, nature vero minus notis, in certiora nature et notiora, ut patet ex primo Phisicorum, et notiores sint nobis in talibus effectus quam cause, -- quia per ipsos inducimur in cognitionem causarum, ut patet, quia eclipsis solis duxit in cognitionem interpositionis lune, unde propter admirari cepere phylosophari --, viam inquisitionis in naturalibus oportet esse ab effectibus ad causas. (61) Since, then, it is our inborn method of investigating the truth as to nature to proceed from what is better known to us but less known to nature, to what is more certain and better known to nature, as is clear from the first Physicorum, and in such matters effects are better known to us than causes, for it is by them that we are led to the knowledge of causes, as is manifest (for it was the eclipse of the sun that led to the recognition of the interposition of the moon; so that men began to philosophise because of their wonder), the path of investigation in the things of nature must needs be from effects to causes;
(62) Que quidem via, licet habeat certitudinem sufficientem, non tamen habet tantam, quantum habet via inquisitionis in mathematicis, que est a causis, sive a superioribus, ad effectus, sive ad inferiora; et ideo querenda est illa certitudo que sic demonstrando haberi potest. (62) and this method, though it may yield adequate certainty, yet cannot yield such certainty as the way of investigation in mathematics, which is from causes, or the higher, to effects, or the lower. And so we are to look for such certainty as may be had in this style of demonstration.
(63) Dico igitur quod causa huius elevationis efficiens non potest esse terra ipsa; quia cum elevari sit quoddam ferri sursum, et ferri sursum sit contra naturam terre, et nichil, per se loquendo, possit esse causa eius quod est contra suam naturam, relinquitur quod terra huius elevationis efficiens causa esse non possit. (63) I say, then, that the efficient cause of this elevation cannot be earth herself; for, since being elevated is a kind of impulse upward, and an impulse upward is contrary to the nature of earth, and nothing can, in itself, be the cause of what is contrary to its own nature, it remains that earth cannot be the efficient cause of this elevation.
(64) Et similiter etiam neque aqua esse potest; quia cum aqua sit corpus homogeneum, in qualibet sui parte, per se loquendo, uniformiter oportet esse virtuatam; et sic non esset ratio quia magis elevasset hic quam alibi. (64) And likewise neither can it be water; for since water is a homogeneous body, its virtue must, in itself, be uniformly distributed in all its parts; and so there would be no reason why it should raise it here any more than elsewhere.
(65) Hec eadem ratio removet ab hac causalitate aerem et ignem; et cum non restet ulterius nisi celum, reducendus est hic effectus in ipsum, tanquam in causam propriam. (65) This same argument rules out air and fire from this causation. And since there is nothing left save heaven; this effect must be referred to it, as to its proper cause.
(66) Sed cum sint plures celi, adhuc restat inquirere in quod, tanquam in propriam causam, habeat reduci. (66) But since there are sundry heavens it remains to inquire to which of them it must be referred as to its proper cause.
(67) Non in celum lune; quia cum organum sue virtutis sive influentie sit ipsa luna, et ipsa tantum declinet per zodiacum ab equinoctiali versus polum antarticum quantum versus arcticum, ita elevasset ultra equinoctialem sicut citra; quod non est factum. Nec valet dicere quod illa declinatio non potuit esse propter magis appropinquare terre per ecentricitatem; quia si hec virtus elevandi fuisset in luna, cum agentia propinquiora virtuosius operentur, magis elevasset ibi quam hic. (67) Not to the heaven of the moon; for, since the organ of its power or influence is the moon herself, and since she departs as far from the equinoctial towards the antarctic pole as towards the arctic, she would elevate it as much on the other side as on this side of the equinoctial, which does not take place. Nor will it do to say that this declination could not take place because of her greater approximation to the earth, due to excentricity; because if the moon had this power of elevation at all (since agents operate with greater power the nearer they are), she would have raised it more there than here.
(68) [XXI]. Hec eadem ratio removet ab huiusmodi causalitate omnes orbes planetarum. Et cum primum mobile, scilicet spera nona, sit uniforme per totum et per consequens uniformiter per totum virtuatum, non est ratio quia magis ab ista parte quam ab alia elevasset. (68) This same line of reasoning rules out all the planetary orbs from such causation, and since the primum mobile, or ninth sphere, is uniform throughout, and therefore uniformly endowed with virtue throughout, there is no reason why it should lift the earth more from this side than from that.
(69) Cum igitur non sint plura corpora mobilia, preter celum stellatum, quod est octava spera, necesse est hunc effectum in ipsum reduci. (69) Since, then, there are no other moving bodies except the starry heaven, which is the eighth sphere, this effect must necessarily be referred to it.