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Throughout history philosophers have sought to define, understand,
and delineate concepts important to human well-being. One such
concept is "knowledge." Many philosophers believed that absolute,
certain knowledge, is possible--that the physical world and ideas
formulated about it could be given solid foundation unaffected by
the varieties of mere opinion.
Sextus Empiricus stands as an example of the "skeptic" school of
thought whose members believed that knowledge was either
unattainable or, if a genuine possibility, the conditions necessary
to achieve it were next to impossible to satisfy. In other words,
in the absence of complete knowledge, one must make do with the
information provided by an imperfect world and conveyed to the mind
through sense impressions that can often deceive us. Throughout his
life Sextus Empiricus entered into intellectual combat with those
who confidently claimed to possess indubitable knowledge. For
skeptics, the best one can hope to achieve is a reasonable
suspension of judgment--remaining ever mindful that claims to
knowledge require careful scrutiny, thoughtful analysis, and
critical review if we are to prevent ourselves and others from
plunging headlong into mistaken notions.
A sextet of sceptic texts has been collected in Stoic Six Pack 4 -
The Sceptics: Pyrrhonic Sketches by Sextus Empiricus, Life of
Pyrrho by Diogenes Laertius, Sextus Empiricus and Greek Scepticism
by Mary Mills Patrick, The Greek Sceptics: from Pyrrho to Sextus by
Norman MacColl Stoics and Sceptics by Edwyn Bevan and Life of
Carneades by Diogenes Laertius.
A sextet of sceptic texts has been collected in Stoic Six Pack 4 -
The Sceptics: Pyrrhonic Sketches by Sextus Empiricus, Life of
Pyrrho by Diogenes Laertius, Sextus Empiricus and Greek Scepticism
by Mary Mills Patrick, The Greek Sceptics: from Pyrrho to Sextus by
Norman MacColl, Stoics and Sceptics by Edwyn Bevan and Life of
Carneades by Diogenes Laertius. A key concept for the sceptics was
ataraxia ("tranquility"), a Greek term used by Pyrrho to describe a
lucid state of robust tranquility, characterized by ongoing freedom
from distress and worry. By applying ideas of what he called
"practical skepticism" to Ethics and to life in general, Pyrrho
concluded that ataraxia could be achieved. Arriving at a state of
ataraxia became the ultimate goal of the early Skeptikoi.
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Sentences of Sextus (Paperback)
Sextus, Empiricus Sextus; Volume editing by Richard Edwards, Robert Wild
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R457
Discovery Miles 4 570
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