Explaining sleep by calling it a dormitive virtue explains nothing.
dormitive virtue
idiomA type of tautology in which an item is explained in terms of the item itself, only put in different (usually more abstract) words.
Origin
A calque translation of Latin, virtus dormitiva, coined by Molière in The Imaginary Invalid. In the play, he lampoons a group of physicians providing an explanation in macaronic Latin of the sleep-inducing properties of opium as stemming from its "virtus dormitiva".
The scientist criticized the theory as a dormitive virtue because it defined the process using the very term it tried to explain.
By attributing the sedative effect of the medicine to a dormitive virtue, the author merely restated the observation without providing any genuine scientific insight into the underlying mechanism.
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dormitive principle
A type of tautology in which an item is explained in terms of the item itself, only put in different (usually more abstract) words.
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make a virtue of necessity
To make the best of a difficult situation; to recast or portray an action or situation in which one has no alternatives as an action or situation which was deliberately chosen on its merits.