Dogma: The Disease of the Mind

What Do Pyrrhonists Mean By “Dogma”?

This is the second of two articles promised in my review of Plínio Junqueira Smith’s book, Sextus Empiricus’ Neo-Pyrrhonism. As the book is expensive and dense, but its ideas are tremendously valuable for understanding Pyrrhonism, this is one in a series of articles to expand upon and unpack those ideas for people who are interested in understanding the practice of Pyrrhonism — a practice that reduces distress and anxiety and helps one lead the best life possible. The prior article is here, but this article may be read independently of that article.

—

In the previous article about the Pyrrhonist logos (method of reasoning), it was noted that in Outlines of Pyrrhonism the discussion of the principles of Pyrrhonism (1.12–15) contained an unnecessary section heading: “Does the Pyrrhonist dogmatize?” Unnecessary subsection headings were shown in the previous article to create mistaken understandings of the Pyrrhonist logos. In a less severe way, this heading has also led to mistaken understandings, as the question — what do the Pyrrhonists mean when they talk about “dogma” and “dogmatizing”? — is the point of the biggest debates and misunderstandings of Pyrrhonism.

Somehow a mountain of scholarly literature has arisen insisting that by dogma Sextus meant “beliefs.” On top of this…