While all may think that they have picked up an item of gold, none will know that he has.Ī number of the early Greek thinkers, most prominently Heraclitus, were skeptical about beliefs obtained from the senses alone, unaided by reason. A number of people in a dark room filled with treasures each pick up an object. Sextus Empiricus, who at the end of the ancient period produced compilations of skeptical arguments, illustrated the view with an analogy. Even if one were to arrive at the truth of the matter by chance, he would still only believe and not know. Regarding what is not evident to the senses, such as the nature of the gods, Xenophanes seems to have advocated a total skepticism. This is one of the earliest appeals to the relativity of beliefs as a way to undermine knowledge claims. He pointed out that the descriptions of the gods of other peoples did not match those of the Greek gods, and he conjectured that if animals had hands, they would draw images of gods that look like them. ![]() At the beginning of the fifth century B.C., Xenophanes questioned the popular anthropomorphic theology. ![]() A more radical skeptic would hold no opinions at all, and so would not even hold any skeptical opinions.Īlmost from its very inception, ancient Greek philosophy had skeptical tendencies. A consistent skeptic only holds the opinion that we do not know which way reality is. The denial of knowledge may, therefore, be negatively dogmatic. This means that it must be distinguished specifically from what is called "negative dogmatism," the view that reality is not one way or another. Skepticism is opposed to "dogmatism," which makes claims to knowledge. Others went further and claimed that we lack knowledge, either of a certain range of things, or of all things. Some of them questioned whether we are ever in a position to determine whether our knowledge attributions are true. The ancient skeptics were concerned primarily with the project of validation. UC Davis Philosophy 102, Theory of Knowledge: Ancient SkepticismĪncient Skepticism UC Davis Philosophy 102 Theory of Knowledge Fall, 2005 Instructor: G.
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