Arcesilaus
Arcesilaus | |
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Academic Skepticism |
Arcesilaus (
Arcesilaus succeeded Crates of Athens as the sixth scholarch of the academy around 264 BC.[2] He did not preserve his thoughts in writing, so his opinions can only be gleaned second-hand from what is preserved by later writers.
In Athens Arcesilaus interacted with the
Life
Arcesilaus was born in Pitane in Aeolis. His early education was provided by Autolycus the mathematician, with whom he migrated to Sardis. Afterwards, he studied rhetoric in Athens. He then studied philosophy, becoming a disciple first of Theophrastus and afterwards of Crantor.[4] He also attended the school of Pyrrho, whose philosophy he maintained, except in name.[5] He subsequently became intimate with Polemo and Crates of Athens, who made Arcesilaus his successor as scholarch (head) of the Platonic Academy. [6]
Philosophy
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Arcesilaus committed nothing to writing. His opinions were imperfectly known to his contemporaries, and can now only be gathered from the statements of later writers. This makes his philosophy difficult to evaluate and partly inconsistent. This led scholars to see his skepticism in several ways. Some see his philosophy as completely negative or destructive of all philosophical views. Others regard him as taking the position that nothing can be known on the basis of his philosophical arguments. Others claimed he held no positive views on any philosophical topic, including the possibility of knowledge.[8]
Arcesilaus' contemporary, Aristo of Chios, described Arcesilaus as being: "Plato the head of him, Pyrrho the tail, midway Diodorus"[9] meaning that Arcesilaus presented himself as a Platonist, the substance of what he taught was the dialectics of Diodorus, but his actual philosophy was that of Pyrrhonism.[10] Eusebius, probably quoting Aristocles of Messene, reported that Arcesilaus studied in Pyrrho's school and adhered, except in name, to Pyrrhonism.[11] Numenius of Apamea said "Arcesilaus accompanied Pyrrho. He remained Pyrrhonist in his rejection of everything, except in name. At least the Pyrrhonists Mnaseas, Philomelos and Timon call him a Pyrrhonist, just as they were themselves, because he too rejected the true, the false, and the persuasive."[12] Sextus Empiricus said that Arcesilaus' philosophy appeared essentially the same as Pyrrhonism, but granted that this might have been superficial.[13]
On the one hand, Arcesilaus professed to be no innovator, but a reviver of the
Cicero attributes the following argument to Arcesilaus:
(i) it is rash and shameful to assent to something false or unknown, but since (ii) nothing can be known (and obviously we shouldn't do what is rash and shameful), (iii) we should suspend judgment about everything[18]
Commentary on Arcesilaus
The
- "Having the lead of Menedemus at his heart, he will run either to that mass of flesh, Pyrrho, or to Diodorus."
- "I shall swim to Pyrrho and to crooked Diodorus."
- "And mixing sound sense with wily cavils."[20]
Blaise Pascal wrote of Arcesilaus in his Pensées (1669, para. 375):
I have seen changes in all nations and men, and thus after many changes of judgement regarding true justice, I have recognized that our nature was but in continual change, and I have not changed since; and if I changed, I would confirm my opinion. The skeptic Arcesilaus, who became a dogmatist.
Notes
- ^ Dorandi 1999, p. 48.
- ^ "Arcesilaus | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy". Iep.utm.edu. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
- ^ Diogenes Laërtius Lives of the Eminent Philosophers Book IX, Chapter 12, Section 114–115 [1]
- Praeparatio EvangelicaVI
- Praeparatio EvangelicaChapter VI
- ^ a b Chisholm 1911.
- ISBN 978-1782835509.
- ^ "Arcesilaus (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)". Plato.stanford.edu. 2005-01-14. Retrieved 31 March 2016.
- ^ Laërtius 1925b, § 35; and Sextus Empiricus, Outlines of Pyrrhonism.
- ^ "Arcesilaus ... does indeed seem to me to share the Pyrrhonean arguments, so that his Way is almost the same as ours.... he made use of the dialectic of Diodorus, but he was an outwardly Platonist." Sextus Empiricus, Outlines of Pyrrhonism Book I, Chapter 33.
- Praeparatio EvangelicaChapter VI
- ^ Numenius, fr. 25.64–71
- ^ Sextus Empiricus, Outlines of Pyrrhonism, Book 1, Chapter 33, Section 232
- ^ David Sedley, in Doubt and Dogmatism Oxford University Press, 1980, p. 11
- ^ Cicero, Academica, i. 12
- ^ Sextus Empiricus, Pyrrh. Hypotyp. i. 234
- ^ Cicero, De Oratore, iii. 18.
- ^ Cicero Academica Varro, 44–45
- ^ Cicero, Academica, ii. 24.
- Diogenes Laërtius Lives of the Eminent Philosophers Book IV, Chapter 6, Section 33 [2]
Sources
- Dorandi, Tiziano (1999). "Chapter 2: Chronology". In Algra, Keimpe; et al. (eds.). The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 48. ISBN 978-0521250283.
- Simone Vezzoli, Arcesilao di Pitane. L'origine del platonismo neoaccademico (Philosophie hellénistique et romaine, 1), Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 2016, ISBN 978-2503550299
Attribution
- public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Arcesilaus". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. This article incorporates text from a publication now in the
- This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Arcesilaus". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
External links
- Lives of the Eminent Philosophers. Vol. 1:4. Translated by Hicks, Robert Drew(Two volume ed.). Loeb Classical Library. § 28–45.
- Brittain, Charles. "Arcesilaus". In Zalta, Edward N. (ed.). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- "Arcesilaus". Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy.