Descartes 'Skepticism In Sextus Empiricus'

In Sextus Empiricus’ Outlines of Pyrrhonism, skepticism is defined as an ability to set out oppositions among things which appear and are thought of in any way at all. (Empiricus, 8–9) Skepticism is a result of one’s will to attain tranquility; when people find themselves unsettled by the discrepancies they encounter, they set out to inquire what is true and what is false in hope to gain tranquility. However, because of the opposed objects being equipollent, they reach an undecidable discord concerning the matter proposed. So, they end up suspending their judgement about the true nature of the object, which ironically, leads them to achieve the goal they had been seeking to begin with. Only after abandoning the inquiry, they find that tranquility …show more content…
However, in Meditation I, he takes on a skeptical view on the basis that the senses have deceived him on some occasions. Thus, Descartes conjectures that we cannot be certain of knowledge that is based upon the testimony of our …show more content…
For example, in Meditation I, Descartes reflects on the fact that he is “seated by the fire, attired in a winter dressing gown...” (Descartes, 115) He cannot abstain from believing that he possess his hands and body unless he likens himself to madmen. Nevertheless, once again he turns to a skeptical argument by considering the possibility of dreaming; the perceptions of his hand and body are very much like the ones he usually has in dreams. This is the first hyperbolic doubt which calls into doubt even the most evident of the beliefs we get from our senses. He claims to “see [obviously] that there are no [sure signs] by which [being awake can be distinguished from being asleep]” (Descartes, 115). Dreams are as veridical as reality, that it is questionable whether we can disregard that he is dreaming and that all of his perceptions are

Show More

Related Documents: Descartes 'Skepticism In Sextus Empiricus'

the ad Essay