School · 365 BCE–220 CE
Ancient skepticism
Ancient skeptics developed distinct Academic and Pyrrhonian practices of inquiry that opposed dogmatic claims to knowledge while differing over the standards that can guide life and argument.
Shared questions
- What should inquiry do when equal and opposed considerations prevent confident assent?
Internal disagreements
- Whether skepticism permits provisional belief, only practical appearance, or no affirmative commitment at all.
Key texts
- Outlines of Pyrrhonism · c. 200 CE — Sextus's handbook is the fullest surviving statement of the sceptical modes and the main source for earlier sceptics.
- Academica · 45 BCE — Cicero preserves the Academic side of the debate with the Stoics over the cognitive impression.