Five modes of scepticism : Sextus Empiricus and the Agrippan modes / Stefan Sienkiewicz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sienkiewicz, Stefan, 1986- author.

Series:

Oxford philosophical monographs

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sextus, Empiricus. Outlines of Pyrrhonism.

Sextus.

Skeptics (Greek philosophy).

Skepticism.

Philosophy, Ancient.

Physical Description:

x, 204 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm.

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Oxford, United Kingdom : Oxford University Press, 2019.

Summary:

"Five Modes of Scepticism' examines the argument forms that lie at the heart of Pyrrhonian scepticism as expressed in the writings of Sextus Empiricus. These are the Agrippan modes of disagreement, hypothesis, infinite regression, reciprocity and relativity; modes which are supposed to bring about that quintessentially sceptical mental state of suspended judgement. Stefan Sienkiewicz analyses how the modes are supposed to do this, both individually and collectively, and from two perspectives. On the one hand there is the perspective of the sceptic's dogmatic opponent and on the other there is the perspective of the sceptic himself. Epistemically speaking, the dogmatist and the sceptic are two different creatures with two different viewpoints. The book elucidates the corresponding differences in the argumentative structure of the modes depending on which of these perspectives is adopted. Previous treatments of the modes have interpreted them from a dogmatic perspective; one of the tasks of the present work is to reorient the way in which scholars have traditionally engaged with the modes. Sienkiewicz advocates moving away from the perspective of the sceptic's opponent - the dogmatist - towards the perspective of the sceptic and trying to make sense of how the sceptic can come to suspend judgement on the basis of the Agrippan modes."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1 The Mode of Disagreement p. 12

Some Features of Disagreement p. 12

Kinds of Disagreement p. 15

Is the Sceptic Part of the Disagreement? p. 19

Disagreement and Undecided Disagreement p. 22

Principles of Disagreement p. 25

Two Accounts of the Sorts of Beliefs a Sceptic Can Hold p. 29

A Dogmatic Mode of Disagreement p. 31

The Method of Equipollence p. 34

A Sceptical Mode of Disagreement p. 41

Chronicling Disagreement and Creating Disagreement p. 47

2 The Mode of Hypothesis p. 53

When the Mode of Hypothesis Occurs p. 53

What Hypothesizing Is Not p. 55

What Hypothesizing Is p. 59

The Function of Hypothesizing p. 64

Three Modes of Hypothesis p. 68

A Sceptical Mode of Hypothesis p. 72

The Mode of Hypothesis as a Limiting Case of the Method of Equipollence p. 74

3 The Mode of Infinite Regression p. 77

Infinity Introduced p. 77

The Unacceptability of Infinitely Regressive Arguments p. 80

The Unsurveyability of Infinitely Regressive Arguments p. 87

Infinite Regression and the Suspension of Judgement p. 93

A Dogmatic Mode of Infinite Regression p. 97

A Sceptical Mode of Infinite Regression p. 99

4 The Mode of Reciprocity p. 104

Reciprocity Parallel to Infinite Regression p. 104

Formal Reciprocity p. 105

Regressive Reciprocity p. 108

Conceptual Reciprocity p. 110

The Unacceptability of Reciprocal Arguments p. 111

Two Kinds of Priority p. 114

Asymmetry and Transitivity p. 116

From Reciprocity to the Suspension of Judgement p. 118

A Dogmatic Mode of Reciprocity p. 119

A Sceptical Mode of Reciprocity p. 121

5 The Mode of Relativity p. 125

Modes of Relativity p. 125

The Logical Form of Sextus' Argument p. 129

Sub-Argument 1 p. 132

Sub-Argument 2 p. 134

Sub-Argument 3 p. 136

The Nature of Sextan Relativity p. 137

The Mode of Relativity and the Other Agrippan Modes p. 143

Relativity and Disagreement p. 147

6 The Modes Combined p. 154

Net 1 p. 157

Net 2 p. 166

The Modes Recombined p. 177

Actual Disagreement, Possible Disagreement, and the Giving of Reasons p. 181

Dogmatic Nets p. 186.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [193]-198) and indexes.

Other Format:

Electronic version: Sienkiewicz, Stefan, 1986- Five modes of scepticism.

ISBN:

0198798369

9780198798361

OCLC:

1057299649