Sextus Empiricus preserved the fullest surviving account of Pyrrhonian practice, using modes and equipollence to suspend judgment while living by appearances.
Intellectual setting
Sextus wrote after the major Hellenistic schools, preserving arguments against logic, physics, ethics, and specialized disciplines for a later imperial audience.
Key ideas
Equipollence
When opposed arguments are equal in force, the skeptic withholds assent rather than selecting an unsupported doctrine.
Fourfold observance
Ordinary life continues through nature, feeling, laws and customs, and practical expertise without dogmatic belief.
Legacy
His works became the principal textual source for ancient skepticism and decisively shaped early modern skeptical debates.