The Cambridge companion to ancient scepticism

Cambridge University Press

2010

xii, 380 p.

Cambridge companions to philosophy

Contents: Antecedents in early Greek philosophy / Mi-Kyoung Lee -- Pyrrho and early Pyrrhonism / Svavar Hrafn Svavarsson -- Arcesilaus and Carneades / Harald Thorsrud -- The sceptical Academy: decline and afterlife / Carlos Lévy -- Aenesidemus and the rebirth of Pyrrhonism / R.J. Hankinson -- Sextus Empiricus / Pierre Pellegrin -- Scepticism and belief / Casey Perin -- Scepticism and action / Katja Maria Vogt -- Scepticism and ethics / Richard Bett -- Academics versus Pyrrhonists, reconsidered / Gisela Striker -- The Pyrrhonian Modes / Paul Woodruff -- Pyrrhonism and medicine / James Allen -- Pyrrhonism and the specialized sciences / Emidio Spinelli -- The rediscovery and posthumous influence of scepticism / Luciano Floridi -- Descartes' transformation of the sceptical tradition / Michael Williams.

This volume offers a comprehensive survey of the main periods, schools, and individual proponents of scepticism in the ancient Greek and Roman world. The contributors examine the major developments chronologically and historically, ranging from the early antecedents of scepticism to the Pyrrhonist tradition. They address the central philosophical and interpretive problems surrounding the sceptics' ideas on subjects including belief, action, and ethics. Finally, they explore the effects which these forms of scepticism had beyond the ancient period, and the ways in which ancient scepticism differs from scepticism as it has been understood since Descartes. The volume will serve as an accessible and wide-ranging introduction to the subject for non-specialists, while also offering considerable depth and detail for more advanced readers.

Английский