WE Flashcards
Senses & reason - unreliable, desires
Non- evident proposition- Agrippa’s Trilemma
Pyrrhonian scepticism argues that neither our senses nor our reason is reliable & are easily fooled, and reason follows too easily our desires. it is impossible for us to arrive at certain knowledge, either empirically or through any other means.
Therefore Pyrrhonian skeptic withholds assent from non-evident propositions and remain in a state of perpetual inquiry about them. To move the Pyrrhonian from the default position of uncertainty, they would require justification, which itself would require justification and they use Agrippa’s Trilemma. Unless the foundation for a proposition is itself evident, any conclusion supported by it would fail to convince the Pyrrhonian skeptic.
Conclusion School - thorough & consistent
The Pyrrhonism school was extremely thorough and consistent in its denial of claims. They contested the assertions and claims of others, yet, they didn’t excuse themselves from self-examination. On the contrary, Pyrrhonians claimed that they themselves asserted nothing. Not even the refutations of the views they opposed.
Pyrrr vs Academic - dogmatists, open & unknown, modern skepticism
Pyrrho differed from the Academic Skeptics in thinking nothing can be known for certain.thought that their position ‘nothing can be known at all’ was dogmatic and self-contradictory, because it itself is a claim of certainty. They even consider the academic sceptics dogmatists, because they make a certain claim where as the pyrrhonians just leave it open and leave it unknownPyrrhonians position is closer to modern skepticism than Academic Skepticism.
