Level 54
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Epistemology and Philosophy of Mind

Skepticism from Antiquity to Descartes

The recurring philosophical challenge of radical doubt, from the ancient Skeptics' suspension of judgment to Descartes's methodological skepticism and its modern epistemological descendants.

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A condensed, point-by-point summary of the module, for reviewing right before a test or exam.

  1. Pyrrho and the Practice of Ancient Skepticism. Pyrrho of Elis founded ancient skepticism, teaching suspension of judgment as the path to tranquility.
  2. Academic Skepticism: Arcesilaus and Carneades. Arcesilaus and Carneades turned Plato's Academy toward skepticism, challenging Stoic claims to certainty.
  3. Sextus Empiricus and the Modes of Skepticism. Sextus Empiricus systematized Pyrrhonism's Ten and Five Modes for suspending judgment about reality.
  4. Skepticism and Ataraxia: The Therapeutic Aim of Doubt. Ancient skeptics pursued suspension of judgment not for its own sake but to reach tranquility.
  5. Descartes's Method of Doubt and the Evil Demon Hypothesis. Descartes used hyperbolic doubt, including an evil demon hypothesis, to find one indubitable certainty.
  6. Responses to Skepticism: Moore's "Here Is a Hand". G.E. Moore countered skepticism by treating certainty of ordinary facts as more secure than skeptical premises.
  7. The Brain-in-a-Vat Thought Experiment and Modern Skepticism. The brain-in-a-vat scenario updates Descartes's demon; Putnam argued it is self-refuting.
  8. Contextualist and Contrastivist Replies to Skeptical Arguments. Contextualism and contrastivism try to dissolve skeptical paradoxes by relativizing knowledge claims.

This module continues after "Theories of Knowledge and Justification" in the syllabus. If you haven't reviewed it yet, it may help set the context.

Key points

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1Pyrrho and the Practice of Ancient Skepticism
2Sextus Empiricus and the Modes of Skepticism
3Descartes's Method of Doubt and the Evil Demon Hypothesis
4Responses to Skepticism: Moore's "Here Is a Hand"
5Contextualist and Contrastivist Replies to Skeptical Arguments

Alternative visual view: a simplified sequence of some of the module's key points, in their order within the syllabus.

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Further reading

Bibliography and cited sources used to create this module.

  • Diogenes Laertius (c. 3rd century CE). Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book IX (trans. R.D. Hicks, Loeb Classical Library, 1925). Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  • Sextus Empiricus. Outlines of Scepticism (trans. Julia Annas and Jonathan Barnes, 2nd ed., 2000). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Annas, J. and Barnes, J. (1985). The Modes of Scepticism: Ancient Texts and Modern Interpretations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Popkin, R.H. (2003). The History of Scepticism: From Savonarola to Bayle (Rev. ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Descartes, R. (1641). Meditations on First Philosophy, with Selections from the Objections and Replies (trans. John Cottingham, 1996). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Putnam, H. (1981). Reason, Truth and History. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.