The discipline of suspending judgment: for every argument an equal argument, and from the balance of the two, tranquility.
Skepticism in its classical form, the Pyrrhonism of Sextus Empiricus, is not the claim that nothing can be known but a practice: oppose to every account its counter account until judgment rests and, as if by chance, peace of mind follows. Its other ancient house, the later Academy, held the same suspension as a discipline of probability. The rediscovery of Sextus in the sixteenth century armed the modern age with its most durable questions about certainty.
Sources
Primary
- Sextus Empiricus, Outlines of Pyrrhonism.
Secondary
- Richard H. Popkin, The History of Scepticism from Savonarola to Bayle (2003).
How this compares to Christianity
How does this branch relate to the historic Christian faith?
This assessment has not yet been reviewed. Every verdict below stands at Not yet reviewed until the named theological reviewers supply it.
- Does it consider itself Christian?
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- Did it arise from the Christian tradition?
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- Is it recognized as Christian by the historic bodies?
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- This site's assessment
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- Reviewer
- Not yet reviewed. The theological reviewers are named on the criteria page when they are appointed.
The comparative record for this entity, its points of convergence and divergence across the ten loci, has not yet been populated. It stands in the assessment queue on the criteria page.
What this assessment cannot settle
This assessment determines what this entity teaches and how that teaching relates to the historic Christian creeds. It does not determine whether any person is saved, whether God accepts their worship, whether they are sincere, or whether the criteria applied here are correct.
This assessment is made from the standpoint described in our editorial statement and our criteria page. It reports classifications; it does not rank sincerity, spiritual standing, or the eternal state of any person.