_The Formula "No more."_
We sometimes express this as I have given it, and sometimes 188
thus, "Nothing more." For we do not accept the "No more," as
some understand it, for the examination of the special, and
"Nothing more" for that of the general, but we use "No more" and
"Nothing more" without any difference, and we shall at present
treat of them as one and the same expression. Now this formula
is defective, for as when we say a double one we really mean a
double garment, and when we say a broad one we really mean a
broad road; so when we say "No more" we mean really no more than
this, or in every way the same. But some of the Sceptics use 189
instead of the interrogation "No?" the interrogation "What, this
rather than this?" using the word "what" in the sense of "what
is the reason," so that the formula means, "What is the reason
for this rather than for this?" It is a customary thing,
however, to use an interrogation instead of a statement, as "Who
of the mortals does not know the wife of Jupiter?" and also to
use a statement instead of an interrogation, as "I seek where
Dion dwells," and "I ask why one should admire a poet." The word
"what" is also used instead of "what for" by Menander--"(For)
what did I remain behind?" The formula "Not more this than this"
expresses our own condition of mind, and signifies that 190
because of the equality of the things that are opposed to each
other we finally attain to a state of equilibrium of soul. We
mean by equality that equality which appears to us as probable,
by things placed in opposition to each other we mean simply
things which conflict with each other, and by a state of
equilibrium we mean a state in which we do not assent to one
thing more than to another. Even if the formula "Nothing 191
more" seems to express assent or denial, we do not use it so,
but we use it loosely, and not with accuracy, either instead of
an interrogation or instead of saying, "I do not know to which
of these I would assent, and to which I would not." What lies
before us is to express what appears to us, but we are
indifferent to the words by which we express it. This must be
understood, however, that we use the formula "Nothing more"
without affirming in regard to it that it is wholly sure and
true, but we present it as it appears to us.