Sextus Empiricus
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Sextus Empiricus ( grc-gre, Σέξτος Ἐμπειρικός, ; ) was a
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
Pyrrhonist Pyrrho of Elis (; grc, Πύρρων ὁ Ἠλεῖος, Pyrrhо̄n ho Ēleios; ), born in Elis, Greece, was a Greek philosopher of Classical antiquity, credited as being the first Greek skeptic philosopher and founder of Pyrrhonism. Life ...
philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...
and
Empiric school The Empiric school of medicine (''Empirics'', ''Empiricists'', or ''Empirici'', el, Ἐμπειρικοί) was a school of medicine founded in Alexandria the middle of the third century BC. The school was a major influence on ancient Greek and Rom ...
physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...
. His philosophical works are the most complete surviving account of ancient Greek and Roman
Pyrrhonism Pyrrhonism is a school of philosophical skepticism founded by Pyrrho in the fourth century BCE. It is best known through the surviving works of Sextus Empiricus, writing in the late second century or early third century CE. History Pyrrho of E ...
, and because of the arguments they contain against the other Hellenistic philosophies, they are also a major source of information about those philosophies. In his medical work, as reflected by his name, tradition maintains that he belonged to the Empiric school in which Pyrrhonism was popular. However, at least twice in his writings, Sextus seems to place himself closer to the
Methodic school The Methodic school of medicine (''Methodics'', ''Methodists'', or ''Methodici'', el, Μεθοδικοί) was a school of medicine in ancient Greece and Rome. The Methodic school arose in reaction to both the Empiric school and the Dogmatic scho ...
. Little is known about Sextus Empiricus. He likely lived in
Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
,
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
, or
Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...
. The ''
Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas ...
,'' a 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia, states that he was the same person as
Sextus of Chaeronea Sextus of Chaeronea ( grc-gre, Σέξτος ὁ Χαιρωνεύς ''Sextos ho Chaironeus''; c. 95 – c. 185) was a philosopher, a nephew or grandson of Plutarch, and one of the teachers of the emperor Marcus Aurelius. Biography The ''Suda'' ( ...
, as do other pre-modern sources, but this identification is commonly doubted.


Writings

Diogenes Laërtius Diogenes Laërtius ( ; grc-gre, Διογένης Λαέρτιος, ; ) was a biographer of the Ancient Greece, Greek philosophers. Nothing is definitively known about his life, but his surviving ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a ...
and the
Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; grc-x-medieval, Σοῦδα, Soûda; la, Suidae Lexicon) is a large 10th-century Byzantine encyclopedia of the ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas (Σούδας) or Souidas ...
report that Sextus Empiricus wrote ten books on Pyrrhonism. The Suda also says Sextus wrote a book ''Ethica''. Sextus Empiricus's three surviving works are the ''Outlines of Pyrrhonism'' (, ''Pyrrhōneioi hypotypōseis'', thus commonly abbreviated ''PH''), and two distinct works preserved under the same title, ''Adversus Mathematicos'' (, ''Pros mathematikous'' , commonly abbreviated "AM" and known as ''Against Those in the Disciplines,'' or ''Against the Mathematicians''). ''Adversus Mathematicos'' is incomplete as the text references parts that are not in the surviving text. ''Adversus Mathematicos'' also includes mentions of three other works which did not survive: * ''Medical Commentaries'' (AD I 202) * ''Empirical Commentaries'' (AM I 62) * ''Commentaries on the Soul'' which includes a discussion of the Pythagoreans' metaphysical theory of numbers (AD IV 284) and shows that the soul is nothing (AM VI 55) The surviving first six books of ''Adversus Mathematicos'' are commonly known as ''Against the Professors''. Each book also has a traditional title; although none of these titles except ''Pros mathematikous'' and ''Pyrrhōneioi hypotypōseis'' are found in the manuscripts. ''Adversus Mathematicos'' ''I–VI'' is sometimes distinguished from ''Adversus Mathematicos'' ''VII–XI'' by using another title, ''Against the Dogmatists'' (, ''Pros dogmatikous'') and then the remaining books are numbered as I–II, III–IV, and V, despite the fact that it is commonly inferred that what we have is just part of a larger work whose beginning is missing and it is unknown how much of the total work has been lost. The supposed general title of this partially lost work is ''Skeptical Treatises (/''Skeptika Hypomnēmata'').


Philosophy

Sextus Empiricus raised concerns which applied to all types of knowledge. He doubted the validity of
induction Induction, Inducible or Inductive may refer to: Biology and medicine * Labor induction (birth/pregnancy) * Induction chemotherapy, in medicine * Induced stem cells, stem cells derived from somatic, reproductive, pluripotent or other cell t ...
long before its best known critic
David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment philo ...
, and raised the
regress argument In epistemology, the regress argument is the argument that any proposition requires a justification. However, any justification itself requires support. This means that any proposition whatsoever can be endlessly (infinitely) questioned, result ...
against all forms of reasoning: Because of these and other barriers to acquiring true beliefs, Sextus Empiricus advises that we should suspend judgment about virtually all beliefs; that is to say, we should neither affirm any belief as true nor deny any belief as false. This view is known as
Pyrrhonian skepticism Pyrrhonism is a school of philosophical skepticism founded by Pyrrho in the fourth century BCE. It is best known through the surviving works of Sextus Empiricus, writing in the late second century or early third century CE. History Pyrrho of E ...
, as distinguished from
Academic skepticism Academic skepticism refers to the skeptical period of ancient Platonism dating from around 266 BCE, when Arcesilaus became scholarch of the Platonic Academy, until around 90 BCE, when Antiochus of Ascalon rejected skepticism, although individua ...
as practiced by
Carneades Carneades (; el, Καρνεάδης, ''Karneadēs'', "of Carnea"; 214/3–129/8 BC) was a Greek philosopher and perhaps the most prominent head of the Skeptical Academy in ancient Greece. He was born in Cyrene. By the year 159 BC, he had begu ...
, which, according to Sextus, denies knowledge altogether. Sextus did not deny the possibility of knowledge. He criticizes the Academic skeptic's claim that nothing is knowable as being an affirmative belief. Instead, Sextus advocates simply giving up belief; in other words, suspending judgment (
epoché Epoché ( ἐποχή ''epokhē'', "cessation") is an ancient Greek term. In Hellenistic philosophy it is a technical term typically translated as " suspension of judgment" but also as "withholding of assent". In the modern philosophy of Phenomen ...
) about whether or not anything is knowable. Only by suspending judgment can we attain a state of
ataraxia ''Ataraxia'' (Greek: ἀταραξία, from ("a-", negation) and ''tarachē'' "disturbance, trouble"; hence, "unperturbedness", generally translated as "imperturbability", "equanimity", or "tranquility") is a Greek term first used in Ancient Gre ...
(roughly, 'peace of mind'). Sextus did not think such a general suspension of judgment to be impractical, since we may live without any beliefs, acting by habit. Sextus allowed that we might affirm claims about our experience (e.g., reports about our feelings or sensations). That is, for some claim X that I feel or perceive, it could be true to say "it seems to me now that X." However, he pointed out that this does not imply any objective knowledge of external reality. Though I might know that the honey I eat at a certain moment tastes sweet to me, this is merely a subjective judgment, and as such may not tell me anything true about the honey itself. Interpretations of Sextus's philosophy along the above lines have been advocated by scholars such as
Myles Burnyeat Myles Fredric Burnyeat (1 January 1939 – 20 September 2019) was an English scholar of ancient philosophy. Early life and education Myles Burnyeat was born on 1 January 1939 to Peter James Anthony Burnyeat and Cynthia Cherry Warburg. He rece ...
,
Jonathan Barnes Jonathan Barnes, British Academy, FBA (born 26 December 1942 in Wenlock, Shropshire) is an English scholar of Aristotelianism, Aristotelian and ancient philosophy. Education and career He was educated at the City of London School and Balliol Co ...
, and
Benson Mates Benson Mates (May 19, 1919 in Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the cou ...
.
Michael Frede Michael Frede (; 31 May 1940 – 11 August 2007) was a prominent scholar of ancient philosophy, described by ''The Telegraph'' as "one of the most important and adventurous scholars of ancient philosophy of recent times." Education and career ...
, however, defends a different interpretation, according to which Sextus does allow beliefs, so long as they are not derived by reason, philosophy or speculation; a skeptic may, for example, accept common opinions in the skeptic's society. The important difference between the skeptic and the dogmatist is that the skeptic does not hold his beliefs ''as a result of rigorous philosophical investigation.'' In ''Against the Ethicists'', Sextus in fact directly says that "the Skeptic does not conduct his life according to philosophical theory (so far as regards this he is inactive), but as regards the non-philosophical regulation of life he is capable of desiring some things and avoiding others." (XI, 165). Thus, on this interpretation (and as per Sextus' own words), the skeptic may well entertain the belief that God does or does not exist or that virtue is good. But he will not believe that such claims are true on the basis of ''reasons'' since, as far as the skeptic is aware, no reason for assenting to such claims has yet been shown to be "any more" credible than the reasons for their denial. (XIX) It must also be remembered that by "belief" (i.e.,
dogma Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...
) Sextus means "assent to something non-evident δηλος, ''adēlos'' (PH I, 16). And by "non-evident" he means things which lie beyond appearances (i.e., ''
phantasiai In Hellenistic philosophy the term ''phantasiai'' (φαντασίαι) is information based on sense experience. Plato described ''phantasiai'' as a blend of perception and doxa (judgement/opinion). Aristotle placed ''phantasiai'' between perc ...
''), and thus are beyond proof or disproof, such as the existence and/or nature of causality, time, motion, or even proof itself. Thus, the skeptic will, for example, believe the proposition that "Dion is in the room" if sense-data and ordinary reasoning led to the emergence of such a belief. On the other hand, if he were to "strongly" assert that Dion was "really" in the room, then he may be met with opposing arguments of equal psychological force against the self-same proposition and experience mental disquietude as a result. Thus, the Pyrrhonian does not assent to the proposition "Dion is in the room" in a dogmatic way as that would purport to describe a non-evident reality which lies beyond the "appearance" αινόμενον, phainomenonof Dion being in the room. The Skeptic simply goes along with the appearance just as "a child is persuaded by...his teacher." (PH I, 229). It is for this reason then that Sextus says the Skeptic lives undogmatically in accordance with appearances and also according to a "fourfold regimine of life" which includes the guidance of nature, compulsion of ''pathe'' (feelings), laws and customs, and instruction in arts and crafts. The Skeptic follows this course of life while suspending judgment concerning the ultimate truth of the non-evident matters debated in philosophy and the sciences (PH I, 17). Thus, the Pyrrhonist achieves ataraxia not by casting certain judgments about appearances but rather through his refined ability to "oppose appearances to judgments" such that he is "brought firstly to a state of mental suspense and next to ataraxia.'" (IV, 8)


The ten modes of Pyrrhonism

Pyrrhonism is more of a mental attitude or therapy than a theory. It involves setting things in opposition and owing to the equipollence of the objects and reasons, one suspends judgement. "We oppose either appearances to appearances or objects of thought to objects of thought or ''alternando.''" The ten modes induce suspension of judgement and in turn a state of mental suspense followed by ''
ataraxia ''Ataraxia'' (Greek: ἀταραξία, from ("a-", negation) and ''tarachē'' "disturbance, trouble"; hence, "unperturbedness", generally translated as "imperturbability", "equanimity", or "tranquility") is a Greek term first used in Ancient Gre ...
.'' If ever one is in a position in which they are unable to refute a theory, Pyrrhonists reply "Just as, before the birth of the founder of the School to which you belong, the theory it holds was not as yet apparent as a sound theory, although it was really in existence, so likewise it is possible that the opposite theory to that which you now propound is already really existent, though not yet apparent to us, so that we ought not as yet to yield assent to this theory which at the moment seems to be valid." These ten ''modes'' or ''tropes'' were originally listed by
Aenesidemus Aenesidemus ( grc, Αἰνησίδημος or Αἰνεσίδημος) was a Greek Pyrrhonist philosopher, born in Knossos on the island of Crete. He lived in the 1st century BC, taught in Alexandria and flourished shortly after the life of Cic ...
(see
The ten modes of Aenesidemus Aenesidemus ( grc, Αἰνησίδημος or Αἰνεσίδημος) was a Greek Pyrrhonist philosopher, born in Knossos on the island of Crete. He lived in the 1st century BC, taught in Alexandria and flourished shortly after the life of C ...
). # "The same impressions are not produced by the same objects owing to the differences in animals." # The same impressions are not produced by the same objects owing to the differences among human beings. # The same impressions are not produced by the same objects owing to the differences among the senses. # Owing to the "circumstances, conditions or dispositions," the same objects appear different. These are "states that are natural or unnatural, with waking or sleeping, with conditions due to age, motion or rest, hatred or love, emptiness or fullness, drunkenness or soberness, predispositions, confidence or fear, grief or joy." # "Based on positions, distances, and locations; for owing to each of these the same objects appear different." For example, "the same porch when viewed from one of its corners appears curtailed, but viewed from the middle symmetrical on all sides; and the same ship seems at a distance to be small and stationary, but from close at hand large and in motion ; and the same tower from a distance appears round but from a near point quadrangular." # “We deduce that since no object strikes us entirely by itself, but along with something else, it may perhaps be possible to say what the mixture compounded out of the external object and the thing perceived with it is like, but we would not be able to say what the external object is like by itself." # "Based, as we said, on the quantity and constitution of the underlying objects, meaning generally by "constitution" the manner of composition." So, for example, goat horn appears black when intact and appears white when ground up. Snow appears white when frozen and translucent as a liquid. # "Since all things appear relative, we will suspend judgment about what things exist absolutely and really existent. Do things which exist "differentially" as opposed to those things that have a distinct existence of their own, differ from relative things or not? If they do not differ, then they too are relative; but if they differ, then, since everything which differs is relative to something..., things which exist absolutely are relative." # "Based on constancy or rarity of occurrence." The sun is more amazing than a comet, but because we see and feel the warmth of the sun daily and the comet rarely, the latter commands our attention. # "There is a Tenth Mode, which is mainly concerned with Ethics, being based on rules of conduct, habits, laws, legendary beliefs, and dogmatic conceptions." Superordinate to these ten modes stand three other modes: * I: that based on the subject who judges (modes 1, 2, 3 & 4). * II: that based on the object judged (modes 7 & 10). * III: that based on both subject who judges and object judged (modes 5, 6, 8 & 9) Superordinate to these three modes is the mode of relation.


Similarity with Madhyamaka Buddhism

Because of the high degree of similarity between the surviving works of Sextus Empiricus and those of the Madhyamaka Buddhist philosopher
Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna . 150 – c. 250 CE (disputed)was an Indian Mahāyāna Buddhist thinker, scholar-saint and philosopher. He is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers.Garfield, Jay L. (1995), ''The Fundamental Wisdom of ...
,
Thomas McEvilley Thomas McEvilley (; July 13, 1939 – March 2, 2013) was an American art critic, poet, novelist, and scholar. He was a Distinguished Lecturer in Art History at Rice UniversityThomas McEvilley, G. Roger Denson (1996), ''Capacity: : History, th ...
and Matthew Neale suspect that Nagarjuna and Sextus Empiricus were referencing some of the same earlier Pyrrhonist texts in developing their works.


Legacy

An influential
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
translation of Sextus's ''Outlines'' was published by
Henricus Stephanus Henri Estienne (; ; 1528 or 15311598), also known as Henricus Stephanus (), was a French printer and classical scholar. He was the eldest son of Robert Estienne. He was instructed in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew by his father and would eventually tak ...
in
Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
in 1562, and this was followed by a complete Latin Sextus with
Gentian Hervet thumb Gentian Hervetus (Hervet) (1499 at Olivet, near Orléans – 12 September 1584 at Reims) was a French Roman Catholic theologian, humanist and controversialist. Life After studying the humanities at Orléans, he went to Paris, where he beca ...
as translator in 1569. Petrus and Jacobus Chouet published the Greek text for the first time in 1621. Stephanus did not publish it with his Latin translation either in 1562 or in 1569, nor was it published in the reprint of the latter in 1619. Sextus's ''Outlines'' were widely read in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
during the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, and had a profound effect on
Michel de Montaigne Michel Eyquem, Sieur de Montaigne ( ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), also known as the Lord of Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularizing the essay as a liter ...
,
David Hume David Hume (; born David Home; 7 May 1711 NS (26 April 1711 OS) – 25 August 1776) Cranston, Maurice, and Thomas Edmund Jessop. 2020 999br>David Hume" ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Retrieved 18 May 2020. was a Scottish Enlightenment philo ...
and
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...
, among many others. Another source for the circulation of Sextus's ideas was
Pierre Bayle Pierre Bayle (; 18 November 1647 – 28 December 1706) was a French philosopher, author, and lexicographer. A Huguenot, Bayle fled to the Dutch Republic in 1681 because of religious persecution in France. He is best known for his '' Historica ...
's ''Dictionary''. The legacy of Pyrrhonism is described in Richard Popkin's ''The History of Skepticism from Erasmus to Descartes'' and ''High Road to Pyrrhonism''. The transmission of Sextus's manuscripts through antiquity and the Middle Ages is reconstructed by
Luciano Floridi Luciano Floridi (; born 16 November 1964) is an Italian people, Italian and British people, British philosopher. He holds a double appointment as professor of philosophy and ethics of information at the University of Oxford, Oxford Internet In ...
's ''Sextus Empiricus, The Recovery and Transmission of Pyrrhonism'' (Oxford:
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 2002). Since the Renaissance, French philosophy has been continuously influenced by Sextus:
Montaigne Michel Eyquem, Sieur de Montaigne ( ; ; 28 February 1533 – 13 September 1592), also known as the Lord of Montaigne, was one of the most significant philosophers of the French Renaissance. He is known for popularizing the essay as a liter ...
in the 16th century, Descartes,
Blaise Pascal Blaise Pascal ( , , ; ; 19 June 1623 – 19 August 1662) was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, philosopher, and Catholic Church, Catholic writer. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen. Pa ...
,
Pierre-Daniel Huet P. D. Huetius Pierre Daniel Huet (; la, Huetius; 8 February 1630 – 26 January 1721) was a French churchman and scholar, editor of the Delphin Classics, founder of the Académie de Physique in Caen (1662-1672) and Bishop of Soissons from 168 ...
and François de La Mothe Le Vayer in the 17th century, many of the "Philosophes", and in recent times controversial figures such as
Michel Onfray Michel Onfray (; born 1 January 1959) is a French writer and philosopher with a hedonistic, epicurean and atheist worldview. A highly-prolific author on philosophy, he has written over 100 books. His philosophy is mainly influenced by such thinke ...
, in a direct line of filiation between Sextus' radical skepticism and secular or even radical atheism. Sextus is the earliest known source for the proverb "Slowly grinds the mill of the gods, but it grinds fine", alluded to in
Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...
's poem " Retribution".D.L. Blank, trans., ''Sextus Empiricus: Against the Grammarians (Adversus Mathematicos I)'', p. 311,


Works


Translations

;Old complete translation in four volumes: * Sextus Empiricus, ''Sextus Empiricus I: Outlines of Pyrrhonism''. R.G. Bury (trans.) (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1933/2000). * Sextus Empiricus, ''Sextus Empiricus II: Against the Logicians''. R.G. Bury (trans.) (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1935/1997). * Sextus Empiricus, ''Sextus Empiricus III: Against the Physicists, Against the Ethicists''. R.G. Bury (trans.) Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1936/1997. * Sextus Empiricus, ''Sextus Empiricus IV: Against the Professors''. R.G. Bury (trans.) (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1949/2000). ;New partial translations * Sextus Empiricus, ''Against the Grammarians'' (Adversos Mathematicos I) David Blank (trans.) Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1998. * Sextus Empiricus, ''Against those in the Disciplines'' (Adversos Mathematicos I-VI). Richard Bett (trans.) (New York: Oxford University Press 2018). * Sextus Empiricus, ''Against the Logicians''. (Adversus Mathematicos VII and VIII). Richard Bett (trans.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005. * Sextus Empiricus, ''Against the Physicists'' (Adversus Mathematicos IX and X). Richard Bett (trans.) Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012. * Sextus Empiricus, ''Against the Ethicists'' (Adversus Mathematicos XI). Richard Bett (trans.) (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2000). * Sextus Empiricus, ''Outlines of Scepticism''. Julia Annas and Jonathan Barnes (trans.) (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2nd ed. 2000). * Sextus Empiricus, ''The Skeptic Way: Sextus Empiricus's Outlines of Pyrrhonism''. Benson Mates (trans.) Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. * Sextus Empiricus, ''Selections from the Major Writings on Skepticism Man and God''. Sanford G. Etheridge (trans.) Indianapolis: Hackett, 1985. ;French translations * Sextus Empiricus, ''Contre les Professeurs'' (the first six treatises), Greek text and French Translation, under the editorship of Pierre Pellegrin (Paris: Seuil-Points, 2002). * Sextus Empirucis, ''Esquisses Pyrrhoniennes'', Greek text and French Translation, under the editorship of Pierre Pellegrin (Paris: Seuil-Points, 1997). ;Old editions * '' Sexti Empirici Adversus mathematicos, hoc est, adversus eos qui profitentur disciplinas'', Gentiano Herveto Aurelio interprete, Parisiis, M. Javenem, 1569 ( Vicifons).


See also

*
Pyrrhonism Pyrrhonism is a school of philosophical skepticism founded by Pyrrho in the fourth century BCE. It is best known through the surviving works of Sextus Empiricus, writing in the late second century or early third century CE. History Pyrrho of E ...
*
Problem of induction First formulated by David Hume, the problem of induction questions our reasons for believing that the future will resemble the past, or more broadly it questions predictions about unobserved things based on previous observations. This inferen ...
*
Philosophical skepticism Philosophical skepticism ( UK spelling: scepticism; from Greek σκέψις ''skepsis'', "inquiry") is a family of philosophical views that question the possibility of knowledge. It differs from other forms of skepticism in that it even reject ...
*
Skepticism Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...
*
Protagoras Protagoras (; el, Πρωταγόρας; )Guthrie, p. 262–263. was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher and rhetorical theorist. He is numbered as one of the sophists by Plato. In his dialogue '' Protagoras'', Plato credits him with inventing the r ...
*
Sextus of Chaeronea Sextus of Chaeronea ( grc-gre, Σέξτος ὁ Χαιρωνεύς ''Sextos ho Chaironeus''; c. 95 – c. 185) was a philosopher, a nephew or grandson of Plutarch, and one of the teachers of the emperor Marcus Aurelius. Biography The ''Suda'' ( ...
*
Dissoi Logoi (Greek , "contrasting arguments") is a rhetorical exercise of unknown authorship, most likely dating to just after the Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) based on comments within the exercise's text. The exercise is intended to help an individual ...


Notes


Bibliography

* Annas, Julia and Barnes, Jonathan, ''The Modes of Scepticism: Ancient Texts and Modern Interpretations'', Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. * Bailey, Alan, ''Sextus Empiricus and Pyrrhonean scepticism'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. * Bett, Richard, ''Pyrrho, His Antecedents, and His Legacy'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. * Breker, Christian, ''Einführender Kommentar zu Sextus Empiricus' "Grundriss der pyrrhonischen Skepsis"'', Mainz, 2011: electr. publication, University of Mainz
available online
(comment on Sextus Empiricus’ “Outlines of Pyrrhonism" in German language) * Brennan, Tad, ''Ethics and Epistemology in Sextus Empiricus'', London: Garland, 1999. * Brochard, Victor, ''Les Sceptiques grecs'' (1887) reprint Paris: Librairie générale française, 2002. * Burnyeat, Myles and Frede, Michael ''The Original Sceptics: A Controversy'', Hackett: Indianapolis, 1997. * Floridi, Luciano, ''Sextus Empiricus: the Transmission and Recovery of Pyrrhonism'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. * Hankinson, R.J., ''The Sceptics'', London: Routledge, 1998. * Hookway, C., ''Scepticism'', London: Routledge, 1992. * Jourdain, Charles, ''Sextus Empiricus et la philosophie scholastique'', Paris: Paul Dupont, 1858. * Janáček, Karel, ''Sexti Empirici indices'', Firenze: Olschki, 2000. * Janáček, Karel, ''Studien zu Sextus Empiricus, Diogenes Laertius und zur pyrrhonischen Skepsis''. Hrsg. v. Jan Janda / Filip Karfík (= Beiträge zur Altertumskunde; Bd. 249), Berlin: de Gruyter 2008. * Mates, Benson, ''The Skeptic Way: Sextus Empiricus's Outlines of Pyrrhonism'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. * Pappenheim Eugen, ''Lebensverhältnisse des Sextus Empiricus'', Berlin, Nauck, 1875. * Perin, Casey, ''The Demands of Reason: An Essay on Pyrrhonian Scepticism'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. * Popkin, Richard, ''The History of Scepticism: From Savonarola to Bayle'', Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003. * Vazquez, Daniel,
Reason in Check: the Skepticism of Sextus Empiricus
', ''Hermathena'', 186, 2009, pp. 43–57.


External links


Against the Mathematicians
(at the Stoic Therapy eLibrary) *

*
Sextus Empiricus and Greek Scepticism
(at Project Gutenberg; includes translation of first book of the Pyrrhonic Sketches)
The complete works of Sextus Empiricus in Greek
(at
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).
''Sexti Empirici opera''
recensuit Hermannus Mutschmann, voll. 2, Lipsiae in aedibus B. G. Teubneri, 1912. {{DEFAULTSORT:Empiricus, Sextus Pyrrhonism 2nd-century philosophers Roman-era Skeptic philosophers 2nd-century Roman physicians 2nd-century Greek physicians Ancient Greek epistemologists Roman-era philosophers in Rome Roman-era philosophers in Athens Roman-era philosophers in Alexandria 160 births 210 deaths