Marcus Aurelius Antoninus to Himself - College of Stoic Philosophers

Ixxviii INTRODUCTION SECT.
and so forth. They are not indeed consciously realised
from the moment of birth, but are nevertheless implicit
in thought, and as the seminal reason gradually matures,
they become an integral part of the reasoning conscious-
ness. Neither again are they perfect or infallible in
exercise, any more than the perceptions of sense ;
rather
they are general and indeterminate ideas, which need
careful comparison and adjustment and development
under the guiding disciplines of reason. But in right
surroundings, and under just and watchful disciplines,
they gradually become clarified and perfected, and lead
on to invincible convictions, which in the moral sphere
carry as clear and compelling a certitude as the attesta-
tions derived from sense.
Knowledge then is grounded on perceptions or im-
pressions of outward existences, conveyed to the mind
by the appropriate organs of sense or (in the case of
certain abstract ideas and super-sensuous existences) of
intellectual apprehension. But the perceptions are by
no means equally valid ; and as soon as the perception
has made itself felt and become a content of conscious-
ness, it is for reason or understanding to test it, to
pass judgment, and to accord approval or rejection. 1
The approving verdict, which affirms that the perception
is a real representation corresponding to an actual object,
is technically known as
'
assent '
and this
;
'
assent,'
which, physically viewed, rests on right tension in the
mental energy, may be strong or weak, mistaken or
sound, true or false j its action depends partly
on the
subjective condition of the perceiving and ratifying mind,
1 vi. 52 ; vii. 16, 68 ; viii. 28, 47 ; xi. 16, 18 (7).