It may be said to him: Some people might say in a case such as this that, when assent to a composite proposition is self-evident and necessary, this may be because the conception of its two terms is itself self-evident. This is what is self-evident both in conception and in assent. Alternatively, the conception of the two terms may be acquired through rational reflection, yet once they have been conceived, knowledge of the relation between them may be self-evident and necessary, requiring no middle term to serve as proof of the conclusion sought. Accordingly, even if knowledge that He is above is self-evident and necessary, it does not follow that knowledge of the meanings of “He” and “above” must also be self-evident and necessary.

But this was not the answer given, because those who maintained that this knowledge is self-evident and necessary said that it is innate in human beings, without any syllogistic reflection preceding it. They thus placed it in the category of knowledge that is innate, necessary, and self-evident without qualification.