Pyrrhonism

The Greek skepsis means investigation, and a sceptic is literally an inquirer. Pyrrhonism takes its name from Pyrrho, and its later figures include Timon, Aenesidemus, Agrippa and Sextus Empiricus, whose works are our fullest account of it. Pyrrhonists claimed neither to have found the truth nor that it could not be found; they kept on investigating.

Their characteristic skill was to set against any argument an equally convincing one, so that judgement is suspended; tranquillity was said to follow. Standard patterns of argument, the “modes”, set out how conflicting appearances and the demand for justification lead to suspension. Whether a Pyrrhonist could live without any beliefs at all is still debated.