The production of equipollence is the most important part of the Pyrrhonian skeptic’s method for bringing about the suspension of judgment. The skeptic produces equipollence methodically, by opposing arguments, propositions, or appearances, in anyway whatsoever, until he produces an equality of “weightiness” on both sides of the conflicting views. Having no appropriate criterion to break the deadlock of equipollence, the skeptic (or his interlocutor) is left with no reason to accept either view. I have two main aims in this paper. My first aim is to distinguish between two different types of equipollence; that produced in the Pyrrhonist, called Psychological Equipollence, and that demonstrated to the dogmatist by the Pyrrhonist, called Normative Equipollence. My second aim in this paper is to argue that equipollence cannot be produced when the skeptic uses only epistemic possibility of error to oppose some compelling p.

Recent work on the philosophy of G.W.F. Hegel has emphasized his interest in skeptical concerns. These contemporary scholars argue that, despite common opinions to the contrary, Hegel actually had a very keen interest in skepticism, one that informed and motivated much of his overall project. While I welcome this recent literature, I argue here that contemporary scholars have overemphasized the importance of skepticism for Hegel. By looking closely at Hegel’s arguments against skepticism in the Phenomenology of Spirit, I argue that Hegel’s anti-skeptical arguments are in fact major failures. Hegel’s failure is at odds with the emphasis that contemporary literature places on Hegel’s interests in skepticism. For a philosopher who was supposedly centrally concerned with skeptical issues, Hegel sure does not act like it. I conclude that the tension here is the result of contemporary scholars’ overemphasis of the role that skepticism plays in Hegel’s project.

In his Outlines of Skepticism, Sextus Empiricus claims that the Pyrrhonian Skeptic can live without holding beliefs. According to the 'Rustic' interpretation of this claim, Sextus holds that the Skeptic lives without beliefs of any kind. According to the 'Urbane' interpretation, Sextus' claim concerns only a restricted category of beliefs. I discuss each interpretation in the context of Sextus' broader philosophical stance, and argue for an Urbane interpretation. On this view, Pyrrhonism represents a practicable stance towards the world. / Master of Arts

Submitted by Andrea Hayashi (deachan@gmail.com) on 2016-06-28T13:43:43Z No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao-jefferson-dos-santos-marcondes-leite.pdf: 492521 bytes, checksum: 278028abd222a64bfe011856ac5e9343 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Andrea Hayashi (deachan@gmail.com) on 2016-06-28T13:44:57Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao-jefferson-dos-santos-marcondes-leite.pdf: 492521 bytes, checksum: 278028abd222a64bfe011856ac5e9343 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-28T13:44:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 dissertacao-jefferson-dos-santos-marcondes-leite.pdf: 492521 bytes, checksum: 278028abd222a64bfe011856ac5e9343 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-11-29 / O presente trabalho pretende explorar o universo ético do ceticismo pirrônico antigo de Sexto Empírico. Para tanto, investigamos o tema nos livros em que Sexto trabalha a questão da ética, a saber, Hipotiposes Pirrônicas, livros I e III, e Contra os Éticos. Sexto apresenta, no livro I das Hipotiposes, a concepção geral do ceticismo. Essa apresentação permite entender como o cético se relaciona com a ética, tanto do ponto de vista da sua reflexão sobre a ética dogmática, como da sua ação ética. Sobre este último ponto, Sexto rejeita as críticas feitas pelos filósofos dogmáticos com relação a impossibilidade da vida prática do cético, indicando qual seria o critério cético de ação. As outras duas obras desenvolvem a reflexão cética sobre a ética. Examinaremos se as duas obras estão de acordo com a apresentação feita no livro I das Hipotiposes, ressaltando a unidade e a autenticidade que o pensamento pirrônico de fato tem. Inicialmente, nos livros sobre ética, Sexto investiga, a respeito das filosofias dogmáticas de sua época, principalmente a dos estoicos, a natureza do bem, do mal e do indiferente, visto que os modelos éticos de sua época consistem numa reflexão sobre esses conceitos. Ao aplicar o seu método filosófico, a argumentação dos dois lados de uma questão, gerando a equipolência, Sexto conclui que a única solução possível para os temas éticos, tal como os dogmáticos a entendem, é suspender o juízo sobre se existe algo que seja o bem, o mal ou o indiferente por natureza. Em segundo lugar, Sexto mostra que toda arte de viver está fadada ao fracasso, visto que estão também vinculadas aos conceitos morais por natureza. Finalmente, voltaremos à questão prática, quando Sexto apresenta o modelo cético de guiar uma vida eticamente, tendo os fenômenos como o critério cético de ação. Desta forma, apresentaremos o pensamento ético pirrônico de Sexto Empírico, com seu estilo próprio e suas características inovadoras e sofisticadas. / This study aims to explore the ethical universe of ancient pyrrhonian scepticism of Sextus Empiricus. We therefore investigated the subject in books where Sextus works the question of ethics, namely Pyrrhonian Hypotyposes, books I and III, and Against the Ethical. Sextus presents, in Book I of Hypotyposes, the general conception of scepticism. This presentation allows to understand how the skeptic it relates to ethics, both from the point of view of its reflection on the ethics dogmatic as their ethical action. On this last point, Sextus rejects the criticisms made by dogmatic philosophers regarding the impossibility of practical life of the skeptic, indicating what would be the criterion for action skeptical. The other two works develop skeptical reflection on ethics. Examine whether the two works are consistent with the presentation of the book I Hypotyposes, emphasizing unity and authenticity that thought has indeed Pyrrhonian. Initially, the books on ethics, Sextus investigates about the dogmatic philosophies of his day, especially the Stoics, the nature of good, bad and indifferent, since the ethical models of his day consists of a reflection on these concepts. By applying his philosophical method, the arguments on both sides of an issue, generating equipollence, Sextus concludes that the only possible solution to the ethical issues, such as the dogmatic understand it, is to suspend judgment about whether there is something that the good, bad or indifferent in nature. Second, Sextus shows that all art of living is doomed to failure, as they are also linked to moral concepts in nature. Finally, back to the practical question, when Sextus presents the model skeptical of guide a life ethically, with phenomena such as skeptical criterion of action. Thus, we present the ethical thinking Pyrrhonian of Sextus Empiricus, with its own style and its innovative features and sophisticated / TEDE

Made available in DSpace on 2015-07-22T20:50:54Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2012-01-01. Added 1 bitstream(s) on 2015-08-11T03:26:34Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 Publico-JefersondosSantosMarcondesLeite.pdf: 504359 bytes, checksum: 1505996de8d212ead99468e02db2c72e (MD5) / O presente trabalho pretende explorar o universo ético do ceticismo pirrônico antigo de Sexto Empírico. Para tanto, investigamos o tema nos livros em que Sexto trabalha a questão da ética, a saber, Hipotiposes Pirrônicas, livros I e III, e Contra os Éticos. Sexto apresenta, no livro I das Hipotiposes, a concepção geral do ceticismo. Essa apresentação permite entender como o cético se relaciona com a ética, tanto do ponto de vista da sua reflexão sobre a ética dogmática, como da sua ação ética. Sobre este último ponto, Sexto rejeita as críticas feitas pelos filósofos dogmáticos com relação a impossibilidade da vida prática do cético, indicando qual seria o critério cético de ação. As outras duas obras desenvolvem a reflexão cética sobre a ética. Examinaremos se as duas obras estão de acordo com a apresentação feita no livro I das Hipotiposes, ressaltando a unidade e a autenticidade que o pensamento pirrônico de fato tem. Inicialmente, nos livros sobre ética, Sexto investiga, a respeito das filosofias dogmáticas de sua época, principalmente a dos estoicos, a natureza do bem, do mal e do indiferente, visto que os modelos éticos de sua época consistem numa reflexão sobre esses conceitos. Ao aplicar o seu método filosófico, a argumentação dos dois lados de uma questão, gerando a equipolência, Sexto conclui que a única solução possível para os temas éticos, tal como os dogmáticos a entendem, é suspender o juízo sobre se existe algo que seja o bem, o mal ou o indiferente por natureza. Em segundo lugar, Sexto mostra que toda arte de viver está fadada ao fracasso, visto que estão também vinculadas aos conceitos morais por natureza. Finalmente, voltaremos à questão prática, quando Sexto apresenta o modelo cético de guiar uma vida eticamente, tendo os fenômenos como o critério cético de ação. Desta forma, apresentaremos o pensamento ético pirrônico de Sexto Empírico, com seu estilo próprio e suas características inovadoras e sofisticadas. / This study aims to explore the ethical universe of ancient pyrrhonian scepticism of Sextus Empiricus. We therefore investigated the subject in books where Sextus works the question of ethics, namely Pyrrhonian Hypotyposes, books I and III, and Against the Ethical. Sextus presents, in Book I of Hypotyposes, the general conception of scepticism. This presentation allows to understand how the skeptic it relates to ethics, both from the point of view of its reflection on the ethics dogmatic as their ethical action. On this last point, Sextus rejects the criticisms made by dogmatic philosophers regarding the impossibility of practical life of the skeptic, indicating what would be the criterion for action skeptical. The other two works develop skeptical reflection on ethics. Examine whether the two works are consistent with the presentation of the book I Hypotyposes, emphasizing unity and authenticity that thought has indeed Pyrrhonian. Initially, the books on ethics, Sextus investigates about the dogmatic philosophies of his day, especially the Stoics, the nature of good, bad and indifferent, since the ethical models of his day consists of a reflection on these concepts. By applying his philosophical method, the arguments on both sides of an issue, generating equipollence, Sextus concludes that the only possible solution to the ethical issues, such as the dogmatic understand it, is to suspend judgment about whether there is something that the good, bad or indifferent in nature. Second, Sextus shows that all art of living is doomed to failure, as they are also linked to moral concepts in nature. Finally, back to the practical question, when Sextus presents the model skeptical of guide a life ethically, with phenomena such as skeptical criterion of action. Thus, we present the ethical thinking Pyrrhonian of Sextus Empiricus, with its own style and its innovative features and sophisticated. / TEDE

Submitted by Maike Costa (maiksebas@gmail.com) on 2017-09-21T14:02:56Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1641348 bytes, checksum: ae4691703d3eb583215d294d501f00c1 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-09-21T14:02:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1641348 bytes, checksum: ae4691703d3eb583215d294d501f00c1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-11-17 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The investigations carried out for this work aim at reflecting about the nature of the pyrrhonian discourse, and, at the same time, at trying to comprehend the sophistic‟s contribution to the formation of certain skeptical argumentative procedures. Initially, the historical development of skepticism will be traced, including, at this stage, the moment preceding the formation of the skeptical tradition as school, i.e., the moment called proto-skepticism, which bursts out still during the pre-Socratic period. Afterwards, a critical-comparative analysis between sophistry and skepticism will be started, focusing on the thoughts of the sophists Protagoras of Abdera and Gorgias of Leontini. Here we will see how some of these sophists‟ theoretical formulas and theses anticipated some of the most significant principles and arguments of the pyrrhonian tradition. Finally, the investigation addresses the skeptical discourse itself, as the fundamental characteristics and the identitary elements of the pyrrhonian logos will be examined. Especially at this point, the search for the crucial components of the skeptical discourse will be grounded on Sextus Empiricus‟s writings, the richest and most important sources about greek skepticism. We shall have, thus, a meticulous dialogue with this pyrrhonian author, in order to extract the main features of the skeptical discourse. / O presente trabalho tem por objetivo principal refletir sobre a natureza do discurso pirrônico, e, paralelamente, tentar compreender a contribuição da sofistica para a formação de determinados procedimentos argumentativos céticos. Inicialmente, traçaremos o desenvolvimento histórico do ceticismo, incluindo, nesta etapa, o momento precedente à formação da tradição cética como escola, isto é, o momento do chamado proto-ceticismo, que irrompe ainda no período pré-socrático. Em seguida, daremos início à análise crítico-comparativa entre a sofística e o ceticismo, tendo por foco desta análise o pensamento dos sofistas Protágoras de Abdera e Górgias de Leontinos. Aqui veremos como algumas fórmulas teóricas e teses destes sofistas anteciparam alguns dos princípios e argumentos mais significativos do discurso pirrônico. Por último, nossa investigação se volta para o discurso cético em si mesmo, pois examinaremos as características fundamentais e os elementos identitários do lógos cético. Nesta fase, sobretudo, nossa busca pelos componentes fulcrais do discurso pirrônico terá por fundamento os escritos de Sexto Empírico, nossa mais rica e importante fonte sobre o ceticismo grego. Teremos, pois, um diálogo meticuloso com o autor pirrônico, para que assim possamos extrair as principais características do discurso cético.

This thesis is a comparative study of the approaches to mental tranquility advanced by the Pyrrhonian skeptic Sextus Empiricus and Huineng, the historically recognized Sixth Patriarch of the Southern Zen School. Relying on the Outlines of Pyrrhonism and the Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch, the principle texts of the Pyrrhonian and Zen schools respectively, I argue that the Pyrrhonian skeptic’s method of attaining ataraxia (“unperturbedness”) via the use of opposing arguments is essentially identical to that of the Sixth Patriarch Huineng’s employment of “opposition pairs.” Finally, in addition to contextualizing the schools historically, I compare their respective positions on ethical and metaphysical statements.