Philosophy
Introduction
Skepticism is the belief that the knowledge set forth in different areas is not necessarily true. Philosophical skeptics' doubts or set out oppositions in things that appear to be true with respect to the objects of perception and thoughts. Sextus is a philosopher who introduced the ‘Pyrrhonian skepticism' by claiming that he has no beliefs on scientific and theoretical matters and for this reason, he questions the rationality of belief. However, some philosophers refute skepticism arguing that skeptics have a false panacea mindset and they make their skeptical conclusion without using logical reasoning. In general, skepticism has a ‘pseudo-problem' (a non-real problem that cannot be solved). Philosophers argue that skepticism fails because skeptics' present arguments from illusion, dream argument, and the evil genius argument.
Sextus philosophy introduces the theory of knowledge known as Pyrrhonian skepticism where he states that people should investigate and search for the truth. Investigation and searching mean that people should not rely on the set of beliefs but they should rely on ability or skill (Bailey, 147). The latter indicates that people should have the ability to make oppositions on things that that appear or are thought to be true. For example, in addressing problems, people should pursue more inquiries to come up with various reasons to favor the offered solutions and select the best solutions and by so doing, they will gain tranquility. The word tranquility means that most people are troubled by the world discrepancies and to come out of the discrepancies, people need skeptical skills, conduct an intense scrutiny and investigations and come up with different solutions (Bailey, 147). Due to the many contractions, skeptic skills provides tranquility since people discover the reality and suspend judgment.
Sextus puts an emphasis on experience as the important element on the material world. He argues that knowledge comes from a sensory experience and thus, people should use ideas and conceptual thoughts to understand the knowledge content. He says that “…every intelligent thing has its origin and the source of its confirmation in sense experience” (Stough, 107). In this statement, he intends to show that in the material world, people gain both sensation and perception. Sensation means that people experience a physical feeling but there is no element of judgment to find out the cause of feeling. On the other hand, perception means that people use their minds to perceive objects and understand things and the different dimensions. In other words, sensation and perception form ideas but in the process, people gain a character of experience where perception is phenomena whereas it is impossible to understand the real nature of the world (Stough, 107). The perceived indisputable and the role of skepticism is to search the experience and understand the external realities.
According to Brennan (75), the skepticism does not contain the ethical component. In most cases, philosophers connect their argument with virtue and vice, moral exempla and ethical conduct. In Sextus' case, he does not apply the ethical principle but rather he uses an epistemological theory to make conclusions. When he talks of the suspension of belief, he argues that the skeptics are a non-philosophical doubt and a practical doubt because it excluded beliefs (Brennan, 78). Sextus uses this notion to claim that skepticism removes the ordinary beliefs and allows people to remove the worry and gain happiness. However, Skepticism fails because as people remove the ordinary beliefs, they use the ordinary concerns which means that people gain tranquility in respect of dogmata. Skeptic's attitude is complicated since ethics is not sorted in the Stoic claims. In addition, Skeptic focus on the search for truth with respect to philosophy and this leads to lack of persuasion and dissuasion (Brennan, 80). Brennan recommends that Stoic claims required compelling motivation, evidence, and considerations.
According to Descartes, skepticism fails due to one major reason which also gives the argument for the truth. Descartes talks of the evil genius and he quotes that “there is an evil demon, supremely powerful and cunning who works as hard as he can to deceive…” (Rubin, 16). In this statement, Descartes argues that he believes that he was created by the omnipresent God. However, some people tend to search for more perfect knowledge to understand the things that were made by the supreme God. In searching for truth, people are controlled by a malicious demon that intends to ensnare the true judgment (Rubin, 16). Thus, skeptics are prisoners enjoying an imaginary freedom that controls them toward finding the truth in the external world. In general Descartes beliefs that skeptics are controlled by a demon and this demon forces them to create doubts over the reality (Rubin, 17). They use their senses and perceptions while dreaming and they end up creating false appearance and reality.
Conclusion
Skeptics argue that in order to believe something, one must have reasons for believing it. Descartes refutes this argument by saying that he believes that an all-powerful God is the creator and the belief that there is no God, earth, and heaven is a perception. This means that skepticism is based on skeptics ignore the true and certain knowledge and rely on unstable and changeable opinion. What happens is that skeptics' knowledge is dependent on their senses and for this reason, they cannot trust their senses.
Work cited
Stough, Charlotte L. Greek Skepticism; a Study in Epistemology. Berkeley: University of California Press,
- Print.
Bailey, Alan. Sextus Empiricus and Pyrrhonean Scepticism. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2002. Print.
Brennan Tad. Ethics and Epistemology in Sextus Empircus. Studies in Ethics. Routledge, 2015
Rubin, Ronald. Silencing the Demon's Advocate: The Strategy of Descartes' Meditations. Stanford, CA:
Stanford University Press, 2008. Internet resource.
