Clearing Up Misconceptions About Pyrrhonism
Massimo Pigliucci has published a review of the book How to Keep an Open Mind: An Ancient Guide to Thinking Like a Skeptic. In this book, Richard Bett presents a fresh translation into contemporary English of some of the most important sections of the works of the ancient Pyrrhonist philosopher, Sextus Empiricus, along with with some commentary by Bett.
I previously reviewed the same book. The translation is commendable. Unfortunately, Bett’s commentary ruins the book as Bett misinterprets Sextus. (I’m hardly the only one to think so. Here’s Katja Maria Vogt’s take on Bett’s misinterpretations.)
Sadly, Bett’s misinterpretations have infected what Massimo presents in his review of the same book, and consequently, what he says about Pyrrhonism.
Broad Generalizations Are Not Necessarily Dogmas
Massimo summarizes Pyrrhonism in one short paragraph in which he comes to the conclusion that Pyrrhonism is somehow ironic.
The essence of Pyrrhonism is that our unhappiness is rooted in the fact that we are too attached to all sorts of opinions we have no business being attached to, because they are about “non-evident” matters, i.e., broadly and imprecisely speaking, matters that are not obvious to the senses (like: it’s day now!) or to basic reasoning (like: 2+2=4). One example…
