Showing papers on "Pyrrhonism published in 1977"
TL;DR: In this article, the author of Considerations sur les Romains articulates the skeptical attitude toward the sources of Roman history that had penetrated European thought by the early decades of the eighteenth century, and observes that the need to use a particular source may disarm criticism and discrimination.
Abstract: M ONTESQUIEU ISOLATES A RISK inherent in writing ancient history when he observes that the need to use a particular source may disarm criticism and discrimination.' Endorsing a view already current in contemporary intellectual circles, the author of Considerations sur les Romains articulates the skeptical attitude toward the sources of Roman history that had penetrated European thought by the early decades of the eighteenth century.2 During this "age of historical Pyrrhonism,"3 European thinkers came to question not only the credibility of traditional narrative accounts (Livy above all), but the value of various alternative sources as well. In his article
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