Philosophical Traditions

Philosophical Traditions: Skepticism

HON 131-01
Professor John Hymers, PhD

Key Terms

Ontology

  • Definition: Concerning the nature of reality.

Epistemology

  • Definition: Concerning the nature of knowledge.

Idealism

  • Definition: The position that only ideas are real.

Rationalism

  • Definition: The position that knowledge of reality comes from the mind alone.

Materialism

  • Definition: The position that only matter is real.

Empiricism

  • Definition: The position that knowledge of reality comes from the senses alone.

Realism

  • Definition: The position that entities exist independently of the mind, whether these are universal entities like justice, scientific entities like quarks, or empirical entities like ‘this chair’.

Nominalism

  • Definition: The position that universal entities are just names and do not exist outside of language.

Monism

  • Definition: The position that only ideas, or only matter, but not both, are real.

Dualism

  • Definition: The position that both ideas and matter are real.

Dogmatism

Definition of Dogma

  • Origin: From the Latin dogma, derived from the Greek τό δόγμα, δόγματος (to dogma, dogmatos) which means doctrine, tenet, teaching.
  • Literal meaning: What someone thinks or believes is true (i.e., doctrine, tenet, teaching).
  • Etymology: τό δόγμα comes from δοκέω, δοκεῖν, which means “to think or to seem good.”
  • Common characteristics: Numerous dogmata exist, but they are all taken to be decided, true, certain, etc.

Philosophical Skepticism

  • Definition: Philosophical skepticism attempts to reject all dogmatism in philosophy, notably challenging figures such as Pythagoras, certain aspects of Platonism, Aristotle, Epicurus, and the Stoics.
  • Distinction: Plato is considered a special case in the context of skepticism.
  • Concerns: Skepticism is concerned with demonstration.
  • Epochē (ἐποχή): It denotes cessation or suspension; thus, what cannot be demonstrated as certain must have its judgment suspended.
  • Agreement among Skeptics: Skeptics agree that nothing has been certainly demonstrated.
  • Types of Skepticism:
    • Academic Skeptics: Argue that certainty is impossible.
    • Pyrrhonist Skepticism (Pyrrhonism): Their position asserts that the Academic view is dogmatic. Pyrrhonists are uncertain even about the impossibility of certainty yet do not take it as a doctrine but rather as a lifestyle.

The Pythagoreans

Historical Context

  • Background: Pythagoras is a shadowy figure; there is much legend and hagiography surrounding him, making it difficult to separate fact from fiction.
  • Born: Circa 570 BC in Samos.
  • Career: Moved to Croton in Italy 30 years later, became politically influential, and then moved to Metapontum after disputes in Croton.
  • Literary Contributions: Pythagoras wrote nothing, although contemporaneous views varied.
  • Influence: His school and beliefs persisted for at least a millennium.
  • Legacy: Strong influence on Plato and later neo-Platonism.

Main Tenets

  • Metempsychosis: The doctrine that souls of all animals migrate from one body to another after death. Pythagoras purportedly remembered previous lives.
  • Eternal Recurrence: A belief that everything happens repeatedly through cycles over time.
  • Dietary Practices: Vegetarianism was advocated due to the belief in metempsychosis, prohibitions included consuming beans and wearing wool.

Number Mysticism

  • Core Belief: Mathematics is intertwined with religion and represents nature. The Pythagoreans worshipped the number 10, known as the “Tetractys.”
    • Understanding of Numbers: Numbers embody geometric units relating to limited portions of space (Burtt 42).
    • Tetractys: 1 (point), 2 (line), 3 (shape), 4 (solid); thereby, 10 contains all properties of Pythagorean Geometry.
  • Musical Theories: The organization of musical tones derives from the ratios of string lengths.
  • Cosmology: They believed in a Great Fire at the center, surrounding it were the Earth, Moon, Sun, five planets, a counter-earth, and fixed stars, with the celestial motion producing harmony – “the music of the spheres.”

Plato as Dogmatist

Two Worlds Theory

  • Definition: Plato posits two realms:
    • World of Forms: Permanent, unchanging truths (ideals such as beauty, truth, justice).
    • World of Appearance: Transitory, flawed entities; a mere shadow of the true Forms.
  • Philosophy's Goal: It serves as a therapeutic process to remove one from the deceptive world of appearances.

Analogy of the Sun

  • Illustration: Found in Republic VI (507b-509c); compares the Sun to the Good and relates it to knowledge and truth.

Divided Line

  • Illustration: Also in Republic VI (509d-511e). It visually categorizes the intellect:
    • Intelligible World:
    • The Good (highest object of knowledge)
    • The Ideas or Forms
    • Mathematical Objects
    • States of Mind:
    • D. Noesis: Direct intuition
    • C. Dianoia: Discursive reasoning
    • Visible World:
    • Visible Things (common beliefs)
    • B. Pistis: Trust in perceptions
    • A. Eikasia: Imagination and mere images.

Key Concepts

  • Episteme: Knowledge.
  • Noesis: Immediate intuition of forms through philosophy.
  • Dianoia: Discursive reasoning employed in science.
  • Doxa: Opinion based on appearances.
  • Pistis: Common sense conceived through practical engagement.
  • Eikasia: Imagination, characterized by a lack of genuine understanding.

Allegory of the Cave

  • Source: Found in Republic VII (514a-520a), illustrating the philosopher's ascent from ignorance to knowledge.

Aristotle

Key Philosophical Positions

  • Philosopher: Considered a naïve realist and empiricist.
  • Metaphysics and Substance:
    • His natural philosophy emphasizes the reality of substance as understood through direct observation.
    • Three Types of Substance:
    • Sensible and perishable: Changing entities (e.g., sublunary bodies).
    • Sensible and non-perishable: Eternal bodies subject to spatial change (e.g., Heavenly bodies).
    • Non-sensible and non-perishable: Eternal and immutable (e.g., God, the Unmoved Mover).

Concept of Change

  • Definition of Change: Motion equates to change; every change must have an origin.
  • Four Types of Cause:
    • Material (what substance is made from, e.g., wood).
    • Formal (the form of the object, e.g., the shape of a table).
    • Efficient (the cause of change, e.g., the carpenter).
    • Final (the intended purpose, e.g., dining).

The Categories

  • Definition: What can be predicated about and, thus, known of a substance:
    • Substance: The essence of the object (e.g., man).
    • Quantity: Measurement attributes (e.g., four-foot).
    • Quality: Descriptive attributes (e.g., sweet).
    • Relation: How objects relate (e.g., half).
    • Place: Location descriptors (e.g., in the market).
    • Date: Temporal identifiers (e.g., last year).
    • Posture/Position: Descriptors of orientation (e.g., is sitting).
    • Action/Passion: Pertaining to actions performed or experienced (e.g., burning).

Epistemology

  • Direct or Naïve Realism: All sensations are assumed to be reliable reflections of external objects, making our observations veridical.
  • Understanding of Substance: The mind processes the substantial form of objects, leading to differentiation of objects based on their form (e.g., distinguishing between a chair and a bench).

Motion and Change

  • Types of Change:
    • Substantial Change: Involves creation/destruction (e.g., making coffee).
    • Quality Change: Accidental changes without loss of substance (e.g., temperature shift).
    • Quantity Change: Alteration in size (e.g., growth).
    • Place Change: Spatial movement (e.g., relocation).
  • Natural vs. Unnatural Motion: Natural motion is intrinsic to the object (e.g., earth falling), while unnatural is forced (e.g., pushing an object).

Cosmology

  • Beliefs: The Earth is at the center of a universe consisting of crystalline spheres, with celestial bodies made of aether rotating around it.
  • Critique: Aristotle’s model did not adequately match observations, leading to skepticism among scientists and philosophers.

Socrates

Historical Context

  • Life and Influence: Socrates (469-399 BC); significant as a teacher to Plato and a somewhat contradictory figure, often seen as a gadfly.
  • Trial: Accused of impiety and corrupting the youth due to his philosophical practices, he received the death penalty, opting to drink hemlock.

The Apology

  • Definition: A literary form serving as a defense of one’s life and philosophical stance.
  • Main Charge: Corruption of Athenian youth and alleged impiety.
  • Philosophical Mission: To pursue wisdom and divine service as articulated by the Oracle of Delphi.

Key Conversations and Concepts

  • Questioning the Wise: Socratic method of dialogue revealing ignorance among the reputed wise, including poets and artisans.
  • Final Charge: Teaching youth to question accepted norms led to societal backlash against him.
  • Legacy: The dialectic nature of philosophy emphasizes the necessity of dialogue in the pursuit of knowledge.

Theaetetus Dialogues

Purpose

  • Central Questions: The dialogue with Theaetetus centers on understanding knowledge and whether it is possible.
  • Protagorean Influence: Tackles the assertion that knowledge is equivalent to perception.

Socratic Methodology

  • Role as Midwife: Socrates claims that he assists others in discovering truth but does not impart knowledge directly.
  • Argument against Knowledge as Perception:
    • Perception varies and can be misleading; subjective experiences can contradict objective truth.
    • Example: Different perceptions of temperature (e.g., cold/warm winds) illustrate relativity in sensory judgments.

Pyrrho

Historical Context

  • Timeline: Pyrrho of Elis (360-274 BC), the recognized first skeptic of the Hellenistic Period.
  • Life Details: Little has been documented beyond fragments of philosophy and biographical details by disciples and historians.
  • Key Contributions: Development of philosophical skepticism, challenging the nature of knowledge and existence.

Core Doctrines

  • Agnosticism: Suggests that we cannot achieve definite knowledge about any entities or truths.
  • Suspension of Judgment (Epochē): Advocates for a state of indifference regarding knowledge claims.
  • Critique of Reality: Posits that nothing exists inherently outside societal customs, rejecting natural truths.

The Academics

Historical Influence

  • Founding: Founded by Plato around 387 BC; Aristotle studied there and shifted towards a more empirical philosophy afterwards.
  • Transition: In 273 BC, Arcesilaus introduced skepticism to the Academy.

Key Figures

  • Cicero: A pivotal figure who emphasized the eclectic nature of his philosophy, integrating skepticism into ethical discussions.
  • Skepticism's Ethical Dilemma: Cicero argued that skepticism could undermine ethical and religious systems, leading to the rejection of universal moral truths.

Socratic Influence

  • Academics' Philosophical Approach: The Academics critiqued propositions and stopped accepting dogmatic truths, mirroring Socratic dialogues.
  • Cicero's Approach: While influenced by the Academics, he rejected their nihilistic implications, favoring a return to Aristotle's and Stoic principles for ethical frameworks.