qualities than appear to us, but some of them do not affect us.
That it has only one quality might be concluded from what we 95
have said about the food distributed in bodies, and the water
distributed in trees, and the breath in the flute and syrinx,
and in similar instruments; for it is possible that the apple
also has only one quality, but appears different on account of
the difference in the sense organs by which it is perceived. On 96
the other hand, that the apple has more qualities than those
that appear to us, can be argued in this way: Let us imagine
someone born with the sense of touch, of smell, and of taste,
but neither hearing nor seeing. He will then assume that neither
anything visible nor anything audible exists at all, but only
the three kinds of qualities which he can apprehend. It is 97
possible then that as we have only the five senses, we apprehend
only those qualities of the apple which we are able to grasp,
but it may be supposed that other qualities exist which would
affect other sense organs if we possessed them; as it is, we do
not feel the sensations which would be felt through them. But 98
nature, one will say, has brought the senses into harmony
with the objects to be perceived. What kind of nature? Among the
Dogmatics a great difference of opinion reigns about the real
existence of nature anyway; for he who decides whether there is
a nature or not, if he is an uneducated man, would be according
to them untrustworthy; if he is a philosopher, he is a part of
the disagreement, and is himself to be judged, but is not a
judge. In short, if it is possible that only those qualities 99
exist in the apple which we seem to perceive, or that more than
these are there, or that not even those which we perceive exist,
it will be unknown to us what kind of a thing the apple is. The
same argument holds for other objects of perception. If,
however, the senses do not comprehend the external world, the
intellect cannot comprehend it either, so that for this reason
also it will appear that the suspension of judgment follows in
regard to external objects.

THE FOURTH TROPE.

In order to attain to [Greek: epoche] by fixing the argument on 100
each separate sense, or even by putting aside the senses
altogether, we take up the fourth Trope of [Greek: epoche]. This
is the one based upon circumstances, and by circumstances we
mean conditions. This Trope comes under considera