How to Be a Pyrrhonist: The Practice and Significance of Pyrrhonian Skepticism

Description

What was it like to be a practitioner of Pyrrhonist skepticism? This important volume brings together for the first time a selection of Richard Bett's essays on ancient Pyrrhonism, allowing readers a better understanding of the key aspects of this school of thought. The volume examines Pyrrhonism's manner of self-presentation, including its methods of writing, its desire to show how special it is, and its use of humor; it considers Pyrrhonism's argumentative procedures regarding specific topics, such as signs, space, or the Modes; and it explores what it meant in practice to live as a Pyrrhonist, including the kind of ethical outlook which Pyrrhonism might allow and, in general, the character of a skeptical life - and how far these might strike us as feasible or desirable. It also shows how Pyrrhonism often raises questions that matter to us today, both in our everyday lives and in our philosophical reflection. FM Contents Preface Acknowledgments Abbreviations The Pyrrhonist’s Dilemma - What to Write If You Have Nothing to Say Why Care Whether Skepticism Is Different from Other Philosophies? Humor as Philosophical Subversion, Especially in the Skeptics The Sign in the Pyrrhonian Tradition Aenesidemus the Anti-Physicist What Kind of Self Can a Greek Skeptic Have? The Modes in Sextus How Ethical Can an Ancient Skeptic Be? Living as a Skeptic Can an Ancient Greek Skeptic Be Eudaimôn (or Happy)? And What Difference Does the Answer Make to Us? On Pyrrhonism, Stances, and Believing What You Want Can We Be Ancient Skeptics? Bibliography Index Locorum Index