Capítulo 23. Chapter XXIII.—Of The Expression ‟I Determine Nothing”
[1.23.197] Regarding the phrase ‟I determine nothing” this is what we say. We hold that ‟to determine” is not simply to state a thing but to put forward something non-evident combined with assent. For in this sense, no doubt, it will be found that the Sceptic determines nothing, not even the very proposition ‟I determine nothing;” for this is not a dogmatic assumption, that is to say assent to something non-evident, but an expression indicative of our own mental condition. So whenever the Sceptic says ‟I determine nothing,” what he means is ‟I am now in such a state of mind as neither to affirm dogmatically nor deny any of the matters now in question.” And this he says simply by way of announcing undogmatically what appears to himself regarding the matters presented, not making any confident declaration, but just explaining his own state of mind.