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Scepticism and the criterion of truth

Class at Faculty of Arts |
AFS100721

Annotation

In this seminar we will explore writings of Sextus Empiricus. In the first half of it we will be focusing on the first book of the Outlines of Pyrrhonism, a sort of Sextus´ manifesto in which he attempts to describe the nature and the methods of the Pyrrhonic skepsis, to explain differences from other philosophical schools, to argue for the consistency of the Pyrrhonist position, etc.

In the second half we will have a closer look at one example of Sextus´ philosophical work, namely at his discussion of the criterion of truth in the first book of Against Logicians: our main aim will be to explore and understand Sextus´ strategy in arguing against the possibility of finding a criterion of truth; at the same time we will try to comprehend Sextus´ unique testimony about the Stoic and the Epicurean epistemology that he wants to refute.