[11]
There are some who hold that even those
questions which have reference to persons and particular cases may at times be called theses, provided
only they are put slightly differently: for instance,
if Orestes be accused, we shall have a cause: whereas
if it is put as question, namely “Was Orestes rightly
acquitted?” it will be a thesis. To the same class
as this last belongs the question “Was Cato right
in transferring Marcia to Hortensius?” These persons distinguish a thesis from a cause as follows: a
thesis is theoretical in character, while a cause has
relation to actual facts, since in the former case we
argue merely with a view to abstract truth, while in
the latter we have to deal with some particular act.
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