Book 7
2.35
Sometimes we have a settled definition on which both parties are agreed, as in the following example from Cicero: Part. Or. xxx. 105. maiestatem iminuere = to commit lèse-majesté or treason. Majesty resides in the dignity of the Roman power and the Roman people. The question however, is, whether that majesty has been impaired, as for example in the ease of Cornelius. No fragments of the pro Cornelio contain any trace of this. But even although the case may seem to turn on definition, the point for decision is one of quality, since there is no doubt about the definition, and must be assigned to the qualitative basis. See III. vi. 31, sqq. It is a mere accident that I have come to mention quality at this moment, but in point of fact quality is the matter that comes next in order for discussion.
2.1
IV. In speaking of quality we sometimes use the word in its most general sense, which covers a number of different questions. For we enquire sometimes into the nature and form of things: as for instance whether the soul is immortal or whether god is to be conceived of in human form. Sometimes, on the other hand, the question turns on size and number, as, for instance, what is the size of the sun or whether there are more worlds than one. In all these cases we arrive at our conclusions by conjecture, yet each involves a question of quality.
