The most complete surviving account of ancient scepticism. Across three books, Sextus Empiricus explains the methods, arguments, and way of life of the Pyrrhonian sceptics — those who suspend judgement on all matters, finding peace not in knowledge but in the recognition that certainty is unattainable.
Start ReadingThe principles of Pyrrhonian scepticism. Sextus explains the sceptical stance — suspension of judgement on all matters — and catalogues the ten modes of Aenesidemus and other argumentative strategies for inducing epoché.
Against the logicians and physicists. Sextus applies sceptical arguments to the fundamental concepts of logic and natural philosophy — truth, proof, cause, body, motion, and place.
Against the ethicists and conclusion. Sextus examines whether anything is good or bad by nature, attacks the competing ethical systems of Stoics and Epicureans, and defends the sceptical way of life as a path to tranquillity.