Capítulo 21. Chapter XXI.—Of The Expressions ‟Perhaps,‟Possible,” And ‟Maybe”
[1.21.194] The formulae ‟perhaps” and ‟perhaps not,” and ‟possibly” and ‟possibly not,” and ‟maybe” and ‟maybe not,” we adopt in place of ‟perhaps it is and perhaps it is not,” and ‟possibly it is and possibly it is not,” and ‟maybe it is and maybe it is not,” so that for the sake of conciseness we adopt the phrase ‟possibly not” instead of ‟possibly it is not,” and ‟maybe not” instead of ‟maybe it is not,” and ‟perhaps not” instead of ‟perhaps it is not.”
[1.21.195] But here again we do not fight about phrases nor do we inquire whether the phrases indicate realities, but we adopt them, as I said,[98] in a loose sense. Still it is evident, as I think, that these expressions are indicative of non-assertion. Certainly the person who says ‟perhaps it is” is implicitly affirming also the seemingly contradictory phrase ‟perhaps it is not” by his refusal to make the positive assertion that ‟it is.” And the same applies to all the other cases.