[§41]. Neque enim: a remark of Lucullus' merely. Quod sit a vero: cf. Munio on Lucr. II. 51 fulgor ab auro. Possit: for the om. of esse cf. n. on I. [29].
[§42]. Proposita: cf. προτασεις passim in Sext. In sensus: = in ea, quae ad sensus pertinent cf. I. [20]. Omni consuetudine: "general experience" εμπειρια, cf. N.D. I. 83. Quam obscurari volunt: cf. I. [33]. quod explanari volebant; the em. of Dav. obscurare is against Cic.'s usage, that of Christ quam observari nolunt is wanton without being ingenious. De reliquis: i.e. iis quae a sensibus ducuntur. In singulisque rebus: the word rebus must mean subjects, not things, to which the words in minima dispertiunt would hardly apply. Adiuncta: Sext. A.M. VII. 164 (R. and P. 410) πασηι τη δοκουσηι αληθει καθεσταναι ευρισκεται τις απαραλλακτος ψευδης, also VII. 438, etc.
[§§43]—[45]. Summary. The sceptics ought not to define, for (1) a definition cannot be a definition of two things, (2) if the definition is applicable only to one thing, that thing must be capable of being thoroughly known and distinguished from others ([43]). For the purposes of reasoning their probabile is not enough. Reasoning can only proceed upon certain premisses. Again to say that there are false sensations is to say that there are true ones; you acknowledge therefore a difference, then you contradict yourselves and say there is none ([44]). Let us discuss the matter farther. The innate clearness of visa, aided by reason, can lead to knowledge ([45]).
[§43]. Horum: Lamb. harum; the text however is quite right, cf. Madv. Gram. 214 b. Luminibus: cf. [101]. Nihilo magis: = ουδεν μαλλον, which was constantly in the mouths of sceptics, see e.g. Sext. P.H. I. 14. Num illa definitio ... transferri: I need hardly point out that the ‛ορος of the Academics was merely founded on probability, just as their "truth" was (cf. n. on [29]). An Academic would say in reply to the question, "probably it cannot, but I will not affirm it." Vel illa vera: these words seem to me genuine, though nearly all editors attack them. Vel = "even" i.e. if even the definition is firmly known, the thing, which is more important, must also be known. In illa vera we have a pointed mocking repetition like that of veri et falsi in [33]. In falsum: note that falsum = aliam rem above. For the sense cf. Sext. P.H. II. 209 μοχθηρους ‛ορους ειναι τους περιεχοντας τι των μη προσοντων τοις ‛οριστοις, and the schoolmen's maxim definitio non debet latior esse definito suo. Minime volunt: cf. [18]. Partibus: Orelli after Goer. ejected this, but omnibus hardly ever stands for omn. rebus, therefore C.F. Hermann reads pariter rebus for partibus. A little closer attention to the subject matter would have shown emendation to be unnecessary, cf. [42] dividunt in partis, T.D. III. 24, where genus = division, pars = subdivision.
[§44]. Impediri ... fatebuntur: essentially the same argument as in [33] at the end. Occurretur: not an imitation of εναντιουσθαι as Goer. says, but of απανταν, which occurs very frequently in Sext. Sumpta: the two premisses are in Gk. called together λημματα, separately λημμα and προσληψις (sumptio et adsumptio De Div II. 108). Orationis: as Faber points out, Cic. does sometimes use this word like ratio (συλλογισμος), cf. De Leg. I. 48 conclusa oratio. Fab. refers to Gell. XV. 26. Profiteatur: so ‛υπισχνεισθαι is often used by Sext. e.g. A.M. VIII. 283. Patefacturum: n. on [26], εκκαλυπτειν, εκκαλυπτικος, δηλωτικος (the last in Sext. A.M. VIII. 277) often recur in Greek. Primum esse ... nihil interesse: there is no inconsistency. Carneades allowed that visa, in themselves, might be true or false, but affirmed that human faculties were incapable of distinguishing those visa which proceed from real things and give a correct representation of the things, from those which either are mere phantoms or, having a real source, do not correctly represent it. Lucullus confuses essential with apparent difference. Non iungitur: a supposed case of διαρτησις, which is opposed to συναρτησις and explained in Sext. A.M. VIII. 430.
[§45]. Assentati: here simply = assensi. Praeteritis: here used in the strong participial sense, "in the class of things passed over," cf. in remissis Orat. 59. Primum igitur ... sed tamen: for the slight anacoluthia cf. Madv. Gram. 480. Iis qui videntur: Goer. is qui videtur, which is severely criticised by Madv. Em. 150. For Epicurus' view of sensation see n. on [79], [80].
[§§46]—[48]. Summary. The refusal of people to assent to the innate clearness of some phenomena (εναργεια) is due to two causes, (1) they do not make a serious endeavour to see the light by which these phenomena are surrounded, (2) their faith is shaken by sceptic paradoxes ([46]). The sceptics argue thus: you allow that mere phantom sensations are often seen in dreams, why then do you not allow what is easier, that two sensations caused by two really existing things may be mistaken the one for the other? ([47]). Further, they urge that a phantom sensation produces very often the same effect as a real one. The dogmatists say they admit that mere phantom sensations do command assent. Why should they not admit that they command assent when they so closely resemble real ones as to be indistinguishable from them? ([48])
[§46]. Circumfusa sint: Goer. retains the MSS. sunt on the ground that the clause quanta sint is inserted παρενθετικως! Orelli actually follows him. For the phrase cf. [122] circumfusa tenebris. Interrogationibus: cf. I. [5] where I showed that the words interrogatio and conclusio are convertible. I may add that in Sextus pure syllogisms are very frequently called ερωτησεις, and that he often introduces a new argument by ερωταται και τουτο, when there is nothing interrogatory about the argument at all. Dissolvere: απολυεσθαι in Sext. Occurrere: cf. [44].
[§47]. Confuse loqui: the mark of a bad dialectician, affirmed of Epicurus in D.F. II. 27. Nulla sunt: on the use of nullus for non in Cic. cf. Madv. Gram. 455 obs. 5. The usage is mostly colloquial and is very common in Plaut. and Terence, while in Cic. it occurs mostly in the Letters. Inaniter: cf. [34]. There are two ways in which a sensation may be false, (1) it may come from one really existent thing, but be supposed by the person who feels it to be caused by a totally different thing, (2) it may be a mere φαντασμα or αναπλασμα της διανοιας, a phantom behind which there is no reality at all. Quae in somnis videantur: for the support given by Stoics to all forms of divination see Zeller 166, De Div. I. 7, etc. Quaerunt: a slight anacoluthon from dicatis above. Quonam modo ... nihil sit omnino: this difficult passage can only be properly explained in connection with [50] and with the general plan of the Academics expounded in [41]. After long consideration I elucidate it as follows. The whole is an attempt to prove the proposition announced in [41] and [42] viz. omnibus veris visis adiuncta esse falsa. The criticism in [50] shows that the argument is meant to be based on the assumption known to be Stoic, omnia deum posse. If the god can manufacture (efficere) sensations which are false, but probable (as the Stoics say he does in dreams), why can he not manufacture false sensations which are so probable as to closely resemble true ones, or to be only with difficulty distinguishable from the true, or finally to be utterly indistinguishable from the true (this meaning of inter quae nihil sit omnino is fixed by [40], where see n.)? Probabilia, then, denotes false sensations such as have only a slight degree of resemblance to the true, by the three succeeding stages the resemblance is made complete. The word probabilia is a sort of tertiary predicate after efficere ("to manufacture so as to be probable"). It must not be repeated after the second efficere, or the whole sense will be inverted and this section placed out of harmony with [50]. Plane proxime: = quam proxime of [36].
[§48]. Ipsa per sese: simply = inaniter as in [34], [47], i.e. without the approach of any external object. Cogitatione: the only word in Latin, as διανοια is in Greek, to express our "imagination." Non numquam: so Madv. for MSS. non inquam. Goer. after Manut. wrote non inquiunt with an interrogation at omnino. Veri simile est: so Madv. D.F. III. 58 for sit. The argument has the same purpose as that in the last section, viz to show that phantom sensations may produce the same effect on the mind as those which proceed from realities. Ut si qui: the ut here is merely "as," "for instance," cf. n. on [33]. Nihil ut esset: the ut here is a repetition of the ut used several times in the early part of the sentence, all of them alike depend on sic. Lamb. expunged ut before esset and before quicquam. Intestinum et oblatum: cf. Sext. A.M. VII. 241 ητοι των εκτος η των εν ‛ημιν παθων, and the two classes of falsa visa mentioned in n. on [47]. Sin autem sunt, etc.: if there are false sensations which are probable (as the Stoics allow), why should there not be false sensations so probable as to be with difficulty distinguishable from the true? The rest exactly as in [47].