Showing papers on "Pyrrhonism published in 1996"

The Skeptic Way: Sextus Empiricus's Outlines of Pyrrhonism

Abstract: The writings of Sextus Empiricus, and especially his Pyrrhonism, have played a remarkably influential role in the history of Western philosophy. Their rediscovery and publication in the sixteenth and seventeenth century led directly to the skepticism of Montaigne, Gassendi, Descartes, Bayle, and other major thinkers, and eventually to the preoccupation of modern philosophy with attempts to refute or otherwise combat philosophical skepticism. In recent years, however, it has become apparent that Pyrrhonism-the form of skepticism professed by Sextus-is in several important aspects different from the modern forms to which his writings have given rise. These differences are of particular philosophical interest since they seem to render this ancient form of skepticism immune to many of the standard counter-arguments to skepticism. Accordingly, Mates's book, which includes an analytic introduction, a modern translation, and an in-depth commentary, presents Pyrrhonism not merely as a historical curiosity, but as a philosophical position worthy of serious consideration.

A Pyrrhonist Interpretation of Hume's Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion

Abstract: L'A. propose une interpretation pyrrhoniste d'un ouvrage de Hume, Dialogues sur la religion naturelle. Il s'agit de dechristianiser l'hermeneutique habituelle employee au sujet de cette œuvre philosophique anglaise. L'A. s'attache a deceler les traces du pyrrhonisme antique dans la premiere partie et la conclusion de ce dialogue

Arnauld Versus Leibniz and Malebranche on the Limits of Theological Knowledge

Abstract: In Chapter I of The History of Scepticism from Erasmus to Spinoza, Richard Popkin offers a succinct and accurate account of the dispute over the basis of religious knowledge that was a central quarrel of the Reformation. The idea is this: In Luther’s initial criticism of Catholic practices he accepted the Catholic position that religious propositions are to be tested for truth by their agreement with Church tradition, councils, and Papal pronouncement. But in subsequent writings Luther took the decisive step of recommending replacement of the Catholic criterion by a test phrased in terms of consistency with Scripture, as interpreted by the conscience of the faithful. Popkin went on to note that Calvin transformed this simple test into an elaborate epistemology of religious knowledge without thereby denying Luther’s basic claims. Popkin then traced the history of the alliance between Catholic Counter Reformation thinkers and sixteenth and seventeenth century Pyrrhonian sceptics, in their efforts to undermine Calvin’s epistemology of religious knowledge. In Chapter VI Popkin noted the Jansenists uses of Catholic Pyrrhonism in defense of their antiphilosophical views and their opposition to rational theology. And in his seminal paper “Scepticism, Theology, and the Scientific Revolution in the Seventeenth Century,”1 Popkin clarified the ways in which the new sciences and traditional theology interfaced in the seventeenth century.