Outlines of Pyrrhonism

PYRRHONIAN HYPOTYPOSES BOOK I.

...we have used: because we cannot be completely devoid of all action. It seems, however, that this observation of things that pertain to common life is fourfold original Latin: triplex. Note: Though the text says "threefold," it proceeds to list four distinct categories. This is a common occurrence in early modern editions of Sextus.: and it consists partly in natural instruction, partly in the impulse and compulsion of passions, partly in the establishment of laws and customs, and partly in the tradition of arts. By natural instruction: through which we are endowed by nature with the faculty of the senses and the intellect. By the compulsion of passions: by which it happens that hunger leads us to food, and thirst to drink. By the establishment of laws and customs: which makes us consider it good to act piously in common life, and bad to act impiously. By the tradition of arts: through which we are not useless and idle in those arts which are handed down to us. All these things we say without holding a firm opinion original: citra opinationem. This refers to the Sceptic's habit of acting according to appearance without asserting a dogmatic belief in the absolute truth of the underlying reality..

What the goal of Scepticism is.

CHAPTER XII.

Order demands that we next speak concerning the goal of the Sceptical discipline. A goal, then, is that for the sake of which all things are done or considered, but which is itself done for the sake of nothing; or it is the ultimate of things to be desired. Now, we say that the goal of the Sceptic is an undisturbed state of mind Ataraxia: A state of serene calmness and tranquility, free from mental distress. regarding things which pertain to opinion, and in things forced upon us, metriopatheia original Greek: μετριοπάθειαν, that is, moderation in enduring affections original: affectionibus. In this context, "affections" refers to unavoidable physical sufferings or sensations like pain or cold.. For one who begins to philosophize—in order to discern and grasp mental impressions Phantasias: Mental images or appearances presented to the mind through the senses., deciding which are true and which are false, so that he might lack disturbance of mind—falls into an equal weight of reasons in opposing parts. Since he was unable to judge between them, he withheld assent Assent: The mental act of agreeing to or accepting a proposition as true or certain.. Moreover, by a stroke of fortune, this withholding of assent was followed by an undisturbed state of mind concerning things of opinion. For he who opines that something is by nature good or evil is always disturbed. For as long as those things which seem to be good are absent, and he thinks himself tormented by those things which are by nature evil, he pursues the good things (as he judges them to be). Yet, once he has acquired them, he falls into even more disturbances, both because of the novelty of the thing and because he is immoderately elated; and fearing a change, he is entirely consumed by the worry that he might lose those things which