Sextus Empiricus and Greek ScepticismPatrick, Mary Mills
Philosophy
Sextus Empiricus and Greek Scepticism
Patrick, Mary Mills
Sextus Empiricus; Skepticism
We explain Aphasia as follows: The word [Greek: phasis] is used 192
in two ways, having a general and a special signification.
According to the general signification, it expresses affirmation
or negation, as "It is day" or "It is not day"; according to the
special signification, it expresses an affirmation only, and
negations are not called [Greek: phaseis]. Now Aphasia is the
opposite of [Greek: phasis] in its general signification, which,
as we said, comprises both affirmation and negation. It follows
that Aphasia is a condition of mind, according to which we say
that we neither affirm nor deny anything. It is evident from
this that we do not understand by Aphasia something that 193
inevitably results from the nature of things, but we mean that
we now find ourselves in the condition of mind expressed by it
in regard to the things that are under investigation. It is
necessary to remember that we do not say that we affirm or deny
any of those things that are dogmatically stated in regard to
the unknown, for we yield assent only to those things which
affect our feelings and oblige us to assent to them.
CHAPTER XXI.
_"Perhaps," and "It is possible," and "It may be."_
The formulae "Perhaps," and "Perhaps not," and "It is 194
possible," and "It is not possible," and "It may be," and "It
may not be," we use instead of "Perhaps it is," and "Perhaps it
is not," and "It is possible that it is," and "It is possible
that it is not," and "It may be that it is," and "It may be that
it is not." That is, we use the formula "It is not possible" for
the sake of brevity, instead of saying "It is not possible to
be," and "It may not be" instead of "It may not be that it is,"
and "Perhaps not" instead of "Perhaps it is not." Again, we do
not here dispute about words, neither do we question if the 195
formulae mean these things absolutely, but we use them loosely,
as I said before. Yet I think it is evident that these formulae
express Aphasia. For certainly the formula "Perhaps it is"
really includes that which seems to contradict it, _i.e._ the
formula "Perhaps it is not," because it does not affirm in in
regard to anything that it is really so. It is the same also in
regard to the others.
CHAPTER XXII.
[Greek: epoche] _or the Suspension of Judgment._
When I say that I suspend my judgment, I mean that I cannot 196
say which of those things presented should be believed, and
which should not be believed, showing that things appear equal
to me in respect to trustworthiness and untrustworthiness. Now
we do not affirm that they are equal, but we state what appears
to us in regard to them at the time when they present themselves
to us. [Greek: epoche] means the holding back of the opinion, so
as neither to affirm nor deny anything because of the equality
of the things in question.
CHAPTER XXIII.
_The Formula "I determine Nothing."_
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account