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Sextus Empiricus

c. 200 CE · The Roman world (The Mediterranean world)

Sextus Empiricus compiles the Outlines of Pyrrhonism, the surviving handbook of Greek skepticism: on every dogmatic claim, judgment is suspended. Printed in Latin in 1562, his arguments about God, causation, and proof become the armory of later agnosticism.

Tagged: Agnosticism Secular and Non-Theistic

The Event

Date
c. 200 CE (approximate)
Era
Classical Roots; Standard periodization of secular and non-religious history
Location
The Roman world; today The Mediterranean world
Traditions
Secular
Streams
Agnosticism
Key figures
Sextus Empiricus
Key texts
Outlines of Pyrrhonism

Primary Sources

  • Sextus Empiricus, Outlines of Pyrrhonism.

Secondary Sources

  • Gottlieb, Anthony. The Dream of Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Philosophy. New York: Liveright, 2016.
  • Jacoby, Susan. Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism. New York: Metropolitan Books, 2004.
  • Taylor, Charles. A Secular Age. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007.
  • Zuckerman, Phil, ed. Atheism and Secularity. Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2010.

Provenance: HIST-1303; confidence 0.85; accessed 2026-10-28.

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