Per se nota. As St Thomas observes (ia 2ae, q. 94, art. 2), there are propositions absolutely self-evident to any man who is not an idiot; and propositions relatively self-evident to the expert, who has kept up with the progress of a particular science, while to the layman, or the unprogressive student, they are not evident at all. At the same time, novelty is not always progress.

Of God and His Creatures: 4.92