The key phrase in Carneades’ theory, according to Sextus, is “probable presentation” (pithane phantasia). The discussion is in the context of perceptual errors, such as a coiled rope that one may at first take to be a snake. The presentation, or what appears to the observer, is either true or false, but which it is, according to earlier skeptical arguments he has given, cannot be known. Distinctions can be drawn, however, in the way the presentation appears. A first division is between presentations that appear true and those that appear false. The latter are not of interest, since the
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