 In resolving such puzzles, Holkot invoked a series of rules, one of which has significance for his moral philosophy, as well. Holkot argued that when the opponent proposed the initial proposition, he was also implicitly posing the rejection of its contradictory. The Aristotelian rule that the impossible does not follow from the possible, seems to allow the contradictory of the initial proposition to enter the debate. But Holkot argued that such a move in effect amounted to starting the debate all over again with a new starting point, a proposition contradictory to the first. The respondent would now be obliged, if he continued with the debate, to answer in accordance with the new contradictory proposition, and would refuse to concede that “God is deceived.”