SEXTUS EMPIRICUS
AND
GREEK SCEPTICISM


A Thesis accepted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the University of Bern _Switzerland, November_ 1897

by

MARY MILLS PATRICK

PRESIDENT OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE, CONSTANTINOPLE
TURKEY


This Thesis is accompanied by a Translation from the Greek of the First Book of the "Pyrrhonic Sketches by Sextus Empiricus


CAMBRIDGE

DEIGHTON BELL & CO.

LONDON GEORGE BELL & SONS

1899

CAMBRIDGE

PRINTED BY JONATHAN PALMER

ALEXANDRA STREET




PREFACE


The following treatise on Sextus Empiricus and Greek Scepticism
has been prepared to supply a need much felt in the English
language by students of Greek philosophy. For while other
schools of Greek philosophy have been exhaustively and
critically discussed by English scholars, there are few sources
of information available to the student who wishes to make
himself familiar with the teachings of Pyrrhonism. The aim has
been, accordingly, to give a concise presentation of Pyrrhonism
in relation to its historical development and the Scepticism of
the Academy, with critical references to the French and German
works existing on the subject. The time and manner of the
connection of Sextus Empiricus with the Pyrrhonean School has
also been discussed.

As the First Book of the _Hypotyposes_, or Pyrrhonic Sketches by
Sextus Empiricus, contains the substance of the teachings of
Pyrrhonism, it has been hoped that a translation of it into
English might prove a useful contribution to the literature on
Pyrrhonism, and this translation has been added to the critical
part of the work.

In making this translation, and in the general study of the
works of Sextus, the Greek text of Immanuel Bekker, Berlin,
1842, has been used, with frequent consultation of the text of
J.A. Fabricius, 1718, which was taken directly from the existing
manuscripts of the works of Sextus. The divisions into chapters,
with the headings of the chapters in the translation, is the
same as Fabricius gives from the manuscripts, although not used
by Bekker, and the numbers of the paragraphs are the same as
those given by both Fabricius and Bekker. References to Diogenes
Laertius and other ancient works have been carefully verified.

The principal modern authors consulted are the following:

Ritter, _Geschichte der Philosophie_, II. Auf., Hamburg,
1836-38.

Zeller, _Philosophie der Griechen_, III. Auf., Leipzig,
1879-89.

Lewes, _History of Philosophy_, Vol. I., London, 1866.

Ueberweg, _History of Philosophy_, IV. ed., translated by
Morris, 1871.

Brochard, _Les Sceptiques Grecs_, Paris, 1877.

Brochard, _Pyrrhon et le Scepticism Primitive_, No. 5, Ribot's
_Revue Phil._, Paris, 1885.

Saisset, _Le Scepticism Aenιsidθme-Pascal-Kant_, Paris, 1867.

Chaignet, _Histoire de la Psychologie des Grecs_, Paris,
1887-90.

Haas, _Leben des Sextus Empiricus_, Burghausen, 1882.

Natorp, _Forschungen zur Geschichte des Erkenntnisproblems bei
den Alten_, Berlin, 1884.

Hirzel, _Untersuchungen zu Cicero's philosophischen Schriften_,
Leipzig, 1877-83.

Pappenheim, _Erlδuterung zu des Sextus Empiricus Pyrrhoneischen
Grundzόgen_, Heidelberg, 1882.

Pappenheim, _Die Tropen der Greichischen Skeptiker_, Berlin,
1885.

Pappenheim, _Lebensverhδltnisse des Sextus Empiricus_, Berlin,
1887.

Pappenheim, _Der angebliche Heraclitismus des Skeptikers
Ainesidemos_, Berlin, 1887.

Pappenheim, _Der Sitz der Schule der Griechischen Skeptiker,
Archiv fόr Geschichte der Philosophie_, I. 1, S. 47, 1887.

Maccoll, _The Greek Sceptics from Pyrrho to Sextus_, London,
1869.

My grateful acknowledgments are due to Dr. Ludwig Stein,
Professor of Philosophy in the University of Bern, for valuable
assistance in relation to the plan of the work and advice in
regard to the best authorities to be consulted. Thanks are also
due to Dr. Louisos Iliou, of Robert College, Constantinople, for
kind suggestions concerning the translation.




CONTENTS




CHAPTER I.

THE HISTORICAL RELATIONS OF SEXTUS EMPIRICUS ... 1

Introductory paragraph.--The name of Sextus Empiricus.
His profession.--The time when he lived.--The place of
his birth.--The seat of the Sceptical School while Sextus
was at its head.--The character of the writings of Sextus
Empiricus.


CHAPTER II.

THE POSITION AND AIM OF PYRRHONIC SCEPTICISM ... 23

The subject-matter of the Hypotyposes.--The origin of
Pyrrhonism.--The nomenclature of Pyrrhonism.--Its
criterion.--Its aim.--[Greek: epochκ] and [Greek: ataraxia].--The
standpoint of Pyrrhonism.


CHAPTER III.

THE SCEPTICAL TROPES ... 31

Origin of the name.--The ten Tropes of [Greek: epochκ].--The
First Trope.--The Second Trope.--The Third Trope.--The Fourth
Trope.--The Fifth Trope.--The Sixth Trope.--The Seventh
Trope.--The Eighth Trope.--The Ninth Trope.--The Tenth
Trope.--The five Tropes of Agrippa.--The two Tropes.--The Tropes
of Aenesidemus against Aetiology.


CHAPTER IV.

AENESIDEMUS AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF HERACLITUS ... 63

Statement of the problem.--The theory of Pappenheim.--The theory
of Brochard.--Zeller's theory.--The theory of Ritter and
Saisset.--The theory of Hirzel and Natorp.--Critical examination
of the subject.


CHAPTER V.

CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF PYRRHONISM ... 81

Pyrrhonism and Pyrrho.--Pyrrhonism and the Academy. Strength and
weakness of Pyrrhonism.

* * * * *

THE FIRST BOOK OF THE PYRRHONIC SKETCHES BY SEXTUS
EMPIRICUS, TRANSLATED FROM THE GREEK ... 101




CHAPTER I.


_The Historical Relations of Sextus Empiricus._

Interest has revived in the works of Sextus Empiricus in recent
times, especially, one may say, since the date of Herbart. There
is much in the writings of Sextus that finds a parallel in the
methods of modern philosophy. There is a common starting-point
in the study of the power and limitations of human thought.
There is a common desire to investigate the phenomena of
sense-perception, and the genetic relations of man to the lower
animals, and a common interest in the theory of human knowledge.

While, however, some of the pages of Sextus' works would form a
possible introduction to certain lines of modern philosophical
thought, we cannot carry the analogy farther, for Pyrrhonism as
a whole lacked the essential element of all philosophical
progress, which is a belief in the possibility of finding and
establishing the truth in the subjects investigated.

Before beginning a critical study of the writings of Sextus
Empiricus, and the light which they throw on the development of
Greek Scepticism, it is necessary to make ourselves somewhat
familiar with the environment in which he lived and wrote. We
shall thus be able to comprehend more fully the standpoint from
which he regarded philosophical questions.

Let us accordingly attempt to give some details of his life,
including his profession, the time when he lived, the place of
his birth, the country in which he taught, and the general aim
and character of his works. Here, however, we encounter great
difficulties, for although we possess most of the writings of
Sextus well preserved, the evidence which they provide on the
points mentioned is very slight. He does not give us
biographical details in regard to himself, nor does he refer to
his contemporaries in a way to afford any exact knowledge of
them. His name even furnishes us with a problem impossible of
solution. He is called [Greek: Sextos ho empeirikos] by Diogenes
Laertius[1]: [Greek: Hκrodotou de diκkouse Sextos ho empeirikos
hou kai ta deka tτn skeptikτn kai alla kallista' Sextou de
diκkouse Satorninos ho Kythκnas, empeirikos kai autos]. Although
in this passage Diogenes speaks of Sextus the second time
without the surname, we cannot understand the meaning otherwise
than that Diogenes considered Sextus a physician of the
Empirical School. Other evidence also is not wanting that Sextus
bore this surname. Fabricius, in his edition of the works of
Sextus, quotes from the _Tabella de Sectis Medicorum_ of
Lambecius the statement that Sextus was called Empiricus because
of his position in medicine.[2]

Pseudo-Galen also refers to him as one of the directors of the
Empirical School, and calls him [Greek: Sextos ho
empeirikos].[3] His name is often found in the manuscripts
written with the surname, as for example at the end of _Logic
II_.[4] In other places it is found written without the surname,
as Fabricius testifies, where Sextus is mentioned as a Sceptic
in connection with Pyrrho.

[1] Diog. Laert. IX. 12, 116.

[2] Fabricius _Testimonia_, p. 2.

[3] Pseudo-Galen _Isag._ 4; Fabricius _Testimonia_, p. 2.

[4] Bekker _Math._ VIII. 481.

The Sceptical School was long closely connected with the
Empirical School of medicine, and the later Pyrrhoneans, when
they were physicians, as was often the case, belonged for the
most part to this school. Menedotus of Nicomedia is the first
Sceptic, however, who is formally spoken of as an Empirical
physician,[1] and his contemporary Theodas of Laodicea was also
an Empirical physician. The date of Menedotus and Theodas is
difficult to fix, but Brochard and Hass agree that it was about
150 A.D.[2] After the time of these two physicians, who were
also each in turn at the head of the Sceptical School,[3] there
seems to have been a definite alliance between Pyrrhonism and
Empiricism in medicine, and we have every reason to believe that
this alliance existed until the time of Sextus.

[1] Diog. IX. 12, 115.

[2] Brochard _Op. cit. Livre_ IV. p. 311.

[3] Diog. IX. 12, 116.

The difficulty in regard to the name arises from Sextus' own
testimony. In the first book of the _Hypotyposes_ he takes
strong ground against the identity of Pyrrhonism and Empiricism
in medicine. Although he introduces his objections with the
admission that "some say that they are the same," in recognition
of the close union that had existed between them, he goes on to
say that "Empiricism is neither Scepticism itself, nor would it
suit the Sceptic to take that sect upon himself",[1] for the
reason that Empiricism maintains dogmatically the impossibility
of knowledge, but he would prefer to belong to the Methodical
School, which was the only medical school worthy of the Sceptic.
"For this alone of all the medical sects, does not proceed
rashly it seems to me, in regard to unknown things, and does not
presume to say whether they are comprehensible or not, but it is
guided by phenomena.[2] It will thus be seen that the Methodical
School of medicine has a certain relationship to Scepticism
which is closer than that of the other medical sects."[3]

[1] _Hyp_. I. 236.

[2] _Hyp_. I. 237.

[3] _Hyp_. I. 241.

We know from the testimony of Sextus himself that he was a
physician. In one case he uses the first person for himself as a
physician,[1] and in another he speaks of Asclepius as "the
founder of our science,"[2] and all his illustrations show a
breadth and variety of medical knowledge that only a physician
could possess. He published a medical work which he refers to
once as [Greek: iatrika hupomnκmata],[3] and again as [Greek:
empeirika hupomnκmata][4] These passages probably refer to the
same work,[5] which, unfortunately for the solution of the
difficult question that we have in hand, is lost, and nothing is
known of its contents.

In apparent contradiction to his statement in _Hypotyposes_ I.,
that Scepticism and Empiricism are opposed to each other, in
that Empiricism denies the possibility of knowledge, and
Scepticism makes no dogmatic statements of any kind, Sextus
classes the Sceptics and Empiricists together in another
instance, as regarding knowledge as impossible[6] [Greek: all oi
men phasin auta mκ katalambanesthai, hτster hoi apo tκs
empeirias iatroi kai hoi apo tκs skepseτs phiolosophoi]. In
another case, on the contrary, he contrasts the Sceptics sharply
with the Empiricists in regard to the [Greek: apodeixeis].[7]
[Greek: hoi de empeirikoi anairousin, hoi de skeptikoi en epochκ
tautκn ephylaxan].

[1] _Hyp_. ii. 238.

[2] _Adv. Math_. A. 260.

[3] _Adv. Math_. vii. 202.

[4] _Adv. Math_. A. 61.

[5] Zeller _Op. cit._. iii. 43.

[6] _Adv. Math._ viii. 191.

[7] _Adv. Math._ VIII. 328.

Pappenheim thinks that Sextus belonged to the Methodical School,
both from his strong expression in favor of that school in
_Hyp_. I. 236, as above, and also because many of his
medical opinions, as found in his works, agree with the
teachings of the Methodical School, more nearly than with those
of the Empiricists. Pappenheim also claims that we find no
inconsistency with this view in the passage given where Sextus
classes the Sceptics with the Empiricists, but considers that
statement an instance of carelessness in expressing himself, on
the part of Sextus.[1]

[1] _Lebensverhδltnisse des Sex. Em._ 36.

The position of Pappenheim is assailable for the reason that in
dealing with any problem regarding an author on the basis of
internal evidence, we have no right to consider one of his
statements worthy of weight, and another one unworthy, on the
supposition that he expressed himself carelessly in the second
instance. Rather must we attempt to find his true standpoint by
fairly meeting all the difficulties offered in apparently
conflicting passages. This has been attempted by Zeller,
Brochard, Natorp and others, with the general result that all
things considered they think without doubt that Sextus belonged
to the Empirical School.[1] His other references are too strong
to allow his fidelity to it to be doubted. He is called one of
the leaders of Empiricism by Pseudo-Galen, and his only medical
work bore the title [Greek: empeirika hupomnκmata.] The opinion
of the writers above referred to is that the passage which we
have quoted from the _Hypotyposes_ does not necessarily mean
that Sextus was not an Empiricist, but as he was more of a
Sceptic than a physician, he gave preference to those doctrines
that were most consistent with Scepticism, and accordingly
claimed that it was not absolutely necessary that a Sceptic
physician should be an Empiricist. Natorp considers that the
different standpoint from which Sextus judges the Empirical and
Methodical Schools in his different works is accounted for on
the supposition that he was an Empiricist, but disagreed with
that school on the one point only.[2] Natorp points out that
Sextus does not speak more favourably of the medical stand of
the Methodical School, but only compares the way in which both
schools regarded the question of the possibility of knowledge,
and thinks that Sextus could have been an Empiricist as a
physician notwithstanding his condemnation of the attitude of
the Empirical School in relation to the theory of knowledge.
This difference between the two schools was a small one, and on
a subtle and unimportant point; in fact, a difference in
philosophical theory, and not in medical practice.

[1] Brochard _Op. cit. Livre_ IV. 317; Zeller _Op. cit_.
III. 15; Natorp _Op. cit._ p. 155.

[2] Natorp _Op. cit_. 157.

While we would agree with the authors above referred to, that
Sextus very probably recognized the bond between the Empirical
School of medicine and Pyrrhonism, yet to make his possible
connection with that school the explanation of his name, gives
him more prominence as a physician than is consistent with what
we know of his career. The long continued union of Empiricism
and Scepticism would naturally support the view that Sextus was,
at least during the earlier part of his life, a physician of
that school, and yet it may be that he was not named Empiricus
for that reason. There is one instance in ancient writings where
Empiricus is known as a simple proper name.[1] It may have been
a proper name in Sextus' case, or there are many other ways in
which it could have originated, as those who have studied the
origin of names will readily grant, perhaps indeed, from the
title of the above-named work, [Greek: empeirika hupomnκmata.]
The chief argument for this view of the case is that there were
other leaders of the Sceptical School, for whom we can claim far
greater influence as Empiricists than for Sextus, and for whom
the surname Empiricus would have been more appropriate, if it
was given in consequence of prominence in the Empirical School.
Sextus is known to the world as a Sceptic, and not as a
physician. He was classed in later times with Pyrrho, and his
philosophical works survived, while his medical writings did
not, but are chiefly known from his own mention of them.
Moreover, the passage which we have quoted from the
_Hypotyposes_ is too strong to allow us easily to believe that
Sextus remained all his life a member of the Empirical School.
He could hardly have said, "Nor would it suit the Sceptic to
take that sect upon himself," if he at the same time belonged to
it. His other references to the Empirical School, of a more
favorable character, can be easily explained on the ground of
the long continued connection which had existed between the two
schools. It is quite possible to suppose that Sextus was an
Empiricist a part of his life, and afterwards found the
Methodical School more to his liking, and such a change would
not in any way have affected his stand as a physician.

[1] Pappenheim _Leb. Ver. Sex. Em_. 6.

In regard to the exact time when Sextus Empiricus lived, we gain
very little knowledge from internal evidence, and outside
sources of information are equally uncertain. Diogenes Laertius
must have been a generation younger than Sextus, as he mentions
the disciple of Sextus, Saturninus, as an Empirical
physician.[1] The time of Diogenes is usually estimated as the
first half of the third century A.D.,[2] therefore Sextus cannot
be brought forward later than the beginning of the century.
Sextus, however, directs his writings entirely against the
Dogmatics, by whom he distinctly states that he means the
Stoics,[3] and the influence of the Stoics began to decline in
the beginning of the third century A.D. A fact often used as a
help in fixing the date of Sextus is his mention of Basilides
the Stoic,[4] [Greek: alla kai oi stτikoi, τs oi peri ton
Basileidκn]. This Basilides was supposed to be identical with
one of the teachers of Marcus Aurelius.[5] This is accepted by
Zeller in the second edition of his _History of Philosophy_, but
not in the third for the reason that Sextus, in all the work
from which this reference is taken, _i.e. Math_. VII.-XI.,
mentions no one besides Aenesidemus, who lived later than the
middle of the last century B.C.[6] The Basilides referred to by
Sextus may be one mentioned in a list of twenty Stoics, in a
fragment of Diogenes Laertius, recently published in Berlin by
Val Rose.[7] Too much importance has, however, been given to the
relation of the mention of Basilides the Stoic to the question
of the date of Sextus. Even if the Basilides referred to by
Sextus is granted to have been the teacher of Marcus Aurelius,
it only serves to show that Sextus lived either at the same time
with Marcus Aurelius or after him, which is a conclusion that we
must in any case reach for other reasons.

[1] Diog. IX. 12, 116.

[2] Ueberweg _Hist. of Phil._ p. 21.

[3] Hyp. I. 65.

[4] _Adv. Math_. VII. 258.

[5] Fabricius _Vita Sexti._

[6] Zeller _Op. cit_. III. 8.

[7] Brochard _Op. cit_. IV. 315.

The fact that has caused the greatest uncertainty in regard to
the date of Sextus is that Claudius Galen in his works mentions
several Sceptics who were also physicians of the Empirical
School,[1] and often speaks of Herodotus, supposed to be
identical with the teacher of Sextus given by Diogenes
Laertius,[2] but makes no reference whatever to Sextus. As
Galen's time passes the limit of the second century A.D., we
must either infer that Sextus was not the well-known physician
that he was stated to be by Pseudo-Galen, and consequently not
known to Galen, or that Galen wrote before Sextus became
prominent as a Sceptic. This silence on the part of Galen in
regard to Sextus increases the doubt, caused by Sextus' own
criticism of the Empirical School of medicine, as to his having
been an Empiricist. The question is made more complicated, as it
is difficult to fix the identity of the Herodotus so often
referred to by Galen.[3] As Galen died about 200 A.D. at the age
of seventy,[4] we should fix the date of Sextus early in the
third century, and that of Diogenes perhaps a little later than
the middle, were it not that early in the third century the
Stoics began to decline in influence, and could hardly have
excited the warmth of animosity displayed by Sextus. We must
then suppose that Sextus wrote at the very latter part of the
second century, and either that Galen did not know him, or that
Galen's books were published before Sextus became prominent
either as a physician or as a Sceptic. The fact that he may have
been better known as the latter than as the former does not
sufficiently account for Galen's silence, as other Sceptics are
mentioned by him of less importance than Sextus, and the latter,
even if not as great a physician as Pseudo-Galen asserts, was
certainly both a Sceptic and a physician, and must have belonged
to one of the two medical schools so thoroughly discussed by
Galen--either the Empirical or the Methodical. Therefore, if
Sextus were a contemporary of Galen, he was so far removed from
the circle of Galen's acquaintances as to have made no
impression upon him, either as a Sceptic or a physician, a
supposition that is very improbable. We must then fix the date
of Sextus late in the second century, and conclude that the
climax of his public career was reached after Galen had finished
those of his writings which are still extant.

[1] Zeller, III. 7.

[2] Diog. XI. 12, 116.

[3] Pappenheim _Lebens. Ver. Sex. Em._ 30.

[4] Zeller _Grundriss der Ges. der Phil._ p. 260.

Sextus has a Latin name, but he was a Greek; we know this from
his own statement.[1] We also know that he must have been a
Greek from the beauty and facility of his style, and from his
acquaintance with Greek dialects. The place of his birth can
only, however, be conjectured, from arguments indirectly derived
from his writings. His constant references throughout his works
to the minute customs of different nations ought to give us a
clue to the solution of this question, but strange to say they
do not give us a decided one. Of these references a large
number, however, relate to the customs of Libya, showing a
minute knowledge in regard to the political and religious
customs of this land that he displays in regard to no other
country except Egypt.[2] Fabricius thinks Libya was not his
birth place because of a reference which he makes to it in the
_Hypotyposes_--[Greek: Thrakτn de kai Gaitoulτn (Libyτn de
ethnos touto)].[3] This conclusion is, however, entirely
unfounded, as the explanation of Sextus simply shows that the
people whom he was then addressing were not familiar with the
nations of Libya. Suidas speaks of two men called Sextus, one
from Chζronea and one from Libya, both of whom he calls
Sceptics, and to one of whom he attributes Sextus' books. All
authorities agree in asserting that great confusion exists in
the works of Suidas; and Fabricius, Zeller, and Pappenheim place
no weight upon this testimony of Suidas.[4] Haas, however,
contends[5] that it is unreasonable to suppose that this
confusion could go as far as to attribute the writings of Sextus
Empiricus to Sextus of Chζronea, and also make the latter a
Sceptic, and he considers it far more reasonable to accept the
testimony of Suidas, as it coincides so well with the internal
evidence of Sextus' writings in regard to his native land. It is
nevertheless evident, from his familiarity with the customs,
language, and laws of Athens, Alexandria and Rome, that he must
have resided at some time in each of these cities.

[1] _Adv. Math._ A. 246; _Hyp._ I. 152; _Hyp._ III. 211,
214.

[2] Haas _Op. cit._ p. 10.

[3] _Hyp._ III. 213.

[4] Pappenheim _Lebens. Ver. Sex. Em._ 5, 22; Zeller _Op.
cit._ III. 39; Fabricius _Vita de Sextus_.

[5] Haas _Op. cit_. p. 6.

Of all the problems connected with the historical details of the
life of Sextus, the one that is the most difficult of solution,
and also the most important for our present purpose of making a
critical study of his teaching, is to fix the seat of the
Sceptical School during the time that he was in charge of it.
The _Hypotyposes_ are lectures delivered in public in that
period of his life. Where then were they delivered? We know that
the Sceptical School must have had a long continued existence as
a definite philosophical movement, although some have contended
otherwise. The fact of its existence as an organized direction
of thought, is demonstrated by its formulated teachings, and the
list given by Diogenes Laertius of its principal leaders,[1] and
by references from the writings of Sextus. In the first book of
_Hypotyposes_ he refers to Scepticism as a distinct system of
philosophy, [Greek: kai taen diakrisin taes skepseos apo ton
parakeimenon autae philosophion].[2] He speaks also of the older
Sceptics,[3] and the later Sceptics.[4]

Pyrrho, the founder of the school, taught in Elis, his native
village; but even as early as the time of Timon, his immediate
follower, his teachings were somewhat known in Alexandria, where
Timon for a while resided.[5] The immediate disciples of Timon,
as given by Diogenes, were not men known in Greece or mentioned
in Greek writings. Then we have the well-known testimony of
Aristocles the Peripatetic in regard to Aenesidemus, that he
taught Pyrrhonism in Alexandria[6]--[Greek: echthes kai proaen
en Alexandreia tae kat' Aigypton Ainaesidaemos tis anazopyrein
aerxato ton huthlon touton].

[1] Diog. XI. 12, 115, 116.

[2] _Hyp_. I. 5.

[3] _Hyp_. I. 36.

[4] _Hyp_. I. 164.

[5] Chaignet _Op. cit._ 45.

[6] Aristocles of Euseb. _Praep. Ev._ XIV. E. 446.

This was after the dogmatic tendency of the Academy under
Antiochus and his followers had driven Pyrrhonism from the
partial union with the Academy, which it had experienced after
the breaking up of the school under the immediate successors of
Timon. Aenesidemus taught about the time of our era in
Alexandria, and established the school there anew; and his
followers are spoken of in a way that presupposes their
continuing in the same place. There is every reason to think
that the connection of Sextus with Alexandria was an intimate
one, not only because Alexandria had been for so long a time the
seat of Pyrrhonism, but also from internal evidence from his
writings and their subsequent historical influence; and yet the
_Hypotyposes_ could not have been delivered in Alexandria, as he
often refers to that place in comparison with the place where he
was then speaking. He says, furthermore, that he teaches in the
same place where his master taught.[1] [Greek: Blepon te hoti
entha ho huphaegaetaes ho emos dielegeto, entautha ego nun
dialegomai]. Therefore the school must have been removed from
Alexandria, in or before the time of the teacher of Sextus, to
some other centre. The _Hypotyposes_ are from beginning to end a
direct attack on the Dogmatics; therefore Sextus must have
taught either in some city where the dogmatic philosophy was
strong, or in some rival philosophical centre. The _Hypotyposes_
show also that the writer had access to some large library.
Alexandria, Rome and Athens are the three places the most
probable for selection for such a purpose. For whatever reason
the seat of the school was removed from Alexandria by the master
of Sextus, or by himself, from the place where it had so long
been united with the Empirical School of medicine, Athens would
seem the most suitable city for its recontinuance, in the land
where Pyrrhonism first had its birth. Sextus, however, in one
instance, in referring to things invisible because of their
outward relations, says in illustration, "as the city of Athens
is invisible to us at present."[2] In other places also he
contrasts the Athenians with the people whom he is addressing,
equally with the Alexandrians, thus putting Athens as well as
Alexandria out of the question.

[1] _Hyp._ III. 120.

[2] _Hyp._ II. 98.

Of the different writers on Sextus Empiricus, those who have
treated this part of the subject most critically are Haas and
Pappenheim. We will therefore consider, somewhat at length, the
results presented by these two authors. Haas thinks that the
_Hypotyposes_ were delivered in Rome for the following reasons.
Sextus' lectures must have been given in some centre of
philosophical schools and of learning. He never opposes Roman
relations to those of the place where he is speaking, as he does
in regard to Athens and Alexandria. He uses the name "Romans"
only three times,[1] once comparing them to the Rhodians, once
to the Persians, and once in general to other nations.[2] In the
first two of these references, the expression "among the Romans"
in the first part of the antithesis is followed by the
expression, "among us," in the second part, which Haas
understands to be synonymous. The third reference is in regard
to a Roman law, and the use of the word 'Roman' does not at all
show that Sextus was not then in Rome. The character of the laws
referred to by Sextus as [Greek: par' haemin] shows that they
were always Roman laws, and his definition of law[3] is
especially a definition of Roman law. This argument might, it
would seem, apply to any part of the Roman Empire, but Haas
claims that the whole relation of law to custom as treated of by
Sextus, and all his statements of customs forbidden at that time
by law, point to Rome as the place of his residence. Further,
Haas considers the Herodotus mentioned by Galen[4] as a
prominent physician in Rome, to have been the predecessor and
master of Sextus, in whose place Sextus says that he is
teaching.[5] Haas also thinks that Sextus' refutation of the
identity of Pyrrhonism with Empiricism evidently refers to a
paragraph in Galen's _Subfiguratio Empirica_,[6] which would be
natural if the _Hypotyposes_ were written shortly after Galen's
_Sub. Em._, and in the same place. Further, Hippolytus, who
wrote in or near Rome very soon after the time of Sextus,
apparently used the _Hypotyposes_, which would be more natural
if he wrote in the same place. According to Haas, every thing in
internal evidence, and outward testimony, points to Rome as
having been the city where Sextus occupied his position as the
head of the Sceptical School.

[1] Haas _Op. cit._ p. 15.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 149, 152; III. 211.

[3] _Hyp._ I. 146.

[4] Galen _de puls._ IV. 11; Bd. VIII. 751.

[5] _Hyp_. III. 120.

[6] Galen _Sub. Em._ 123 B-126 D. (Basileae, 1542).

Coming now to the position of Pappenheim on this subject, we
find that he takes very decided ground against the seat of the
Sceptical School having been in Rome, even for a short time, in
his latest publication regarding it.[1] This opinion is the
result of late study on the part of Pappenheim, for in his work
on the _Lebensverhδltnisse des Sextus Empiricus_ Berlin 1875, he
says, "Dass Herodotus in Rom lebte sagt Galen. Vermuthlich auch
Sextus." His reasons given in the later article for not
connecting the Sceptical School at all with Rome are as follows.
He finds no proof of the influence of Scepticism in Rome, as
Cicero remarks that Pyrrhonism is extinct,[2] and he also gives
weight to the well-known sarcastic saying of Seneca, _Quis est
qui tradat praecepta Pyrrhonis!_[3] While Haas claims that
Sextus would naturally seek one of the centres of dogmatism, in
order most effectively to combat it, Pappenheim, on the
contrary, contends that it would have been foolishness on the
part of Sextus to think of starting the Sceptical School in
Rome, where Stoicism was the favored philosophy of the Roman
Emperors; and when either for the possible reason of strife
between the Empirical and Methodical Schools, or for some other
cause, the Pyrrhonean School was removed from Alexandria,
Pappenheim claims that all testimony points to the conclusion
that it was founded in some city of the East. The name of Sextus
is never known in Roman literature, but in the East, on the
contrary, literature speaks for centuries of Sextus and Pyrrho.
The _Hypotyposes_, especially, were well-known in the East, and
references to Sextus are found there in philosophical and
religious dogmatic writings. The Emperor Julian makes use of the
works of Sextus, and he is frequently quoted by the Church
Fathers of the Eastern Church.[4] Pappenheim accordingly
concludes that the seat of Pyrrhonism after the school was
removed from Alexandria, was in some unknown city of the East.

[1] Pappenheim _Sitz der Skeptischen Schule. Archiv fόr
Geschichte der Phil._ 1888.

[2] Cicero _De Orat._ III. 17, 62.

[3] Seneca _nat. qu._ VII. 32. 2.

[4] Fabricius _de Sexto Empirico Testimonia_.

In estimating the weight of these arguments, we must accept with
Pappenheim the close connection of Pyrrhonism with Alexandria,
and the subsequent influence which it exerted upon the
literature of the East. All historical relations tend to fix the
permanent seat of Pyrrhonism, after its separation from the
Academy, in Alexandria. There is nothing to point to its removal
from Alexandria before the time of Menodotus, who is the teacher
of Herodotus,[1] and for many reasons to be considered the real
teacher of Sextus. It was Menodotus who perfected the Empirical
doctrines, and who brought about an official union between
Scepticism and Empiricism, and who gave Pyrrhonism in great
measure, the _ιclat_ that it enjoyed in Alexandria, and who
appears to have been the most powerful influence in the school,
from the time of Aenesidemus to that of Sextus. Furthermore,
Sextus' familiarity with Alexandrian customs bears the imprint
of original knowledge, and he cannot, as Zeller implies, be
accepted as simply quoting. One could hardly agree with
Zeller,[2] that the familiarity shown by Sextus with the customs
of both Alexandria and Rome in the _Hypotyposes_ does not
necessarily show that he ever lived in either of those places,
because a large part of his works are compilations from other
books; but on the contrary, the careful reader of Sextus' works
must find in all of them much evidence of personal knowledge of
Alexandria, Athens and Rome.

[1] Diog. IX. 12, 116.

[2] Zeller _Op. cit._ III. p. 39.

A part of Sextus' books also may have been written in
Alexandria. [Greek: Pros phusikous] could have been written in
Alexandria.[1] If these were also lectures, then Sextus taught
in Alexandria as well as elsewhere. The history of Eastern
literature for the centuries immediately following the time of
Sextus, showing as it does in so many instances the influence of
Pyrrhonism, and a knowledge of the _Hypotyposes_, furnishes us
with an incontestable proof that the school could not have been
for a long time removed from the East, and the absence of such
knowledge in Roman literature is also a strong argument against
its long continuance in that city. It would seem, however, from
all the data at command, that during the years that the
Sceptical School was removed from Alexandria, its head quarters
were in Rome, and that the Pyrrhonean _Hypotyposes_ were
delivered in Rome. Let us briefly consider the arguments in
favour of such a hypothesis. Scepticism was not unknown in Rome.
Pappenheim quotes the remark of Cicero that Pyrrhonism was long
since dead, and the sarcasm of Seneca, _Quis est qui tradat
praecepta Pyrrhonis?_ as an argument against the knowledge of
Pyrrhonism in Rome. We must remember, however, that in Cicero's
time Aenesidemus had not yet separated himself from the Academy;
or if we consider the Lucius Tubero to whom Aenesidemus
dedicated his works, as the same Lucius Tubero who was the
friend of Cicero in his youth, and accordingly fix the date of
Aenesidemus about 50 B.C.,[2] even then Aenesidemus' work in
Alexandria was too late to have necessarily been known to
Cicero, whose remark must have been referred to the old school
of Scepticism. Should we grant, however, that the statements of
Cicero and Seneca prove that in their time Pyrrhonism was
extinct in Rome, they certainly do not show that after their
death it could not have again revived, for the _Hypotyposes_
were delivered more than a century after the death of Seneca.
There are very few writers in Aenesidemus' own time who showed
any influence of his teachings.[3] This influence was felt
later, as Pyrrhonism became better known. That Pyrrhonism
received some attention in Rome before the time of Sextus is
nevertheless demonstrated by the teachings of Favorinus there.
Although Favorinus was known as an Academician, the title of his
principal work was [Greek: tous philosophoumenous autτ tτn
logτn, hτn aristoi hoi Purrhτneioi].[4] Suidas calls Favorinus a
great author and learned in all science and philosophy,[5] and
Favorinus made Rome the centre of his teaching and writing. His
date is fixed by Zeller at 80-150 A.D., therefore Pyrrhonism was
known in Rome shortly before the time of Sextus.

[1] Pappenheim _Sitz der Skeptischen Schule; Archiv fόr
Geschichte der Phil._, 1888; _Adv. Math._ X. 15, 95.

[2] Zeller _Op. cit._ III. 10.

[3] Zeller _Op. cit._ p. 63.

[4] Zeller _Op. cit._ p. 67.

[5] Brochard _Op. cit._ 329.

The whole tone of the _Hypotyposes_, with the constant
references to the Stoics as living present opponents, shows that
these lectures must have been delivered in one of the centres of
Stoicism. As Alexandria and Athens are out of the question, all
testimony points to Rome as having been the seat of the
Pyrrhonean School, for at least a part of the time that Sextus
was at its head. We would then accept the teacher of Sextus, in
whose place he says he taught, as the Herodotus so often
referred to by Galen[1] who lived in Rome. Sextus' frequent
references to Asclepiades, whom he mentions ten different times
by name in his works,[2] speak in favour of Rome in the matter
under discussion, as Asclepiades made that city one of the
centres of medical culture. On the other hand, the fact that
there is no trace of the _Hypotyposes_ in later Roman
literature, with the one exception of the works of Hippolytus,
as opposed to the wide-spread knowledge of them shown in the
East for centuries, is incontestable historical proof that the
Sceptical School could not long have had its seat at Rome. From
the two passages given above from Sextus' work against physics,
he must either have written that book in Alexandria, it would
seem, or have quoted those passages from some other work. May we
not then conclude, that Sextus was at the head of the school in
Rome for a short time, where it may have been removed
temporarily, on account of the difficulty with the Empiricists,
implied in _Hyp_. I. 236-241, or in order to be better able to
attack the Stoics, but that he also taught in Alexandria, where
the real home of the school was certainly found? There it
probably came to an end about fifty years after the time of
Sextus, and from that centre the Sceptical works of Sextus had
their wide-spread influence in the East.

[1] Galen VIII. 751.

[2] Bekker _Index_.

The books of Sextus Empiricus furnish us with the best and
fullest presentation of ancient Scepticism which has been
preserved to modern times, and give Sextus the position of one
of the greatest men of the Sceptical School. His works which are
still extant are the _Pyrrhonean Hypotyposes_ in three volumes,
and the two works comprising eleven books which have been united
in later times under the title of [Greek: pros mathκmatikous],
one of which is directed against the sciences in general, and
the other against the dogmatic philosophers. The six books
composing the first of these are written respectively against
grammarians, rhetoricians, geometricians, arithmeticians,
astronomers and musicians. The five books of the latter consist
of two against the logicians, two against physics, and one
against systems of morals. If the last short work of the first
book directed against the arithmeticians is combined with the
one preceding against the geometricians, as it well could be,
the two works together would be divided into ten different
parts; there is evidence to show that in ancient times such a
division was made.[1] There were two other works of Sextus which
are now lost, the medical work before referred to, and a book
entitled [Greek: peri psuchκs]. The character of the extant
works of Sextus is similar, as they are all directed either
against science or against the dogmatics, and they all present
the negative side of Pyrrhonism. The vast array of arguments
comprising the subject-matter, often repeated in the same and
different forms, are evidently taken largely from the Sceptical
works which Sextus had resource to, and are, in fact, a summing
up of all the wisdom of the Sceptical School. The style of these
books is fluent, and the Greek reminds one of Plutarch and
Thucydides, and although Sextus does not claim originality, but
presents in all cases the arguments of the Sceptic, yet the
illustrations and the form in which the arguments are presented,
often bear the marks of his own thought, and are characterized
here and there by a wealth of humor that has not been
sufficiently noticed in the critical works on Sextus. Of all the
authors who have reviewed Sextus, Brochard is the only one who
seems to have understood and appreciated his humorous side.

We shall now proceed to the consideration of the general
position and aim of Pyrrhonism.

[1] Diog. IX. 12, 116.




CHAPTER II.


_The Position and Aim of Pyrrhonism_.

The first volume of the _Pyrrhonean Hypotyposes_ gives the most
complete statement found in any of the works of Sextus Empiricus
of the teachings of Pyrrhonism and its relation to other schools
of philosophy. The chief source of the subject-matter presented
is a work of the same name by Aenesidemus,[1] either directly
used by Sextus, or through the writings of those who followed
Aenesidemus. The comprehensive title [Greek: Purrhτneioi
hupotupτseis] was very probably used in general to designate
courses of lectures given by the leaders of the Sceptical
School.

In the opening chapters of the _Hypotyposes_ Sextus undertakes
to define the position and aim of Pyrrhonism.[2] In introducing
his subject he treats briefly of the differences between
philosophical schools, dividing them into three classes; those
which claim that they have found the truth, like the schools of
Aristotle and Epicurus and the Stoics; those which deny the
possibility of finding it, like that of the Academicians; and
those that still seek it, like the Sceptical School. The
accusation against the Academicians, that they denied the
possibility of finding the truth, was one that the Sceptics were
very fond of making. We shall discuss the justice of it later,
simply remarking here, that to affirm the "incomprehensibility
of the unknown," was a form of expression that the Pyrrhonists
themselves were sometimes betrayed into, notwithstanding their
careful avoidance of dogmatic statements.[3]

[1] Diog. IX. 11, 78.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 3, 4.

[3] _Adv. Math._ VIII. 191.

After defining the three kinds of philosophy as the Dogmatic,
the Academic and the Sceptic, Sextus reminds his hearers that he
does not speak dogmatically in anything that he says, but that
he intends simply to present the Sceptical arguments
historically, and as they appear to him. He characterizes his
treatment of the subject as general rather than critical,
including a statement of the character of Scepticism, its idea,
its principles, its manner of reasoning, its criterion and aim,
and a presentation of the Tropes, or aspects of doubt, and the
Sceptical formulae and the distinction between Scepticism and
the related schools of philosophy.[1]

The result of all the gradual changes which the development of
thought had brought about in the outward relations of the
Sceptical School, was to increase the earnestness of the claim
of the Sceptics to be simply followers of Pyrrho, the great
founder of the movement. In discussing the names given to the
Sceptics, Sextus gives precedence very decidedly to the title
"Pyrrhonean," because Pyrrho appears the best representative of
Scepticism, and more prominent than all who before him occupied
themselves with it.[2]

It was a question much discussed among philosophers in ancient
times, whether Pyrrhonism should be considered a philosophical
sect or not. Thus we find that Hippobotus in his work entitled
[Greek: peri haireseτn], written shortly before our era, does
not include Pyrrhonism among the other sects.[3] Diogenes
himself, after some hesitation remarking that many do not
consider it a sect, finally decides to call it so.[4]

[1] _Hyp._ I. 5, 6.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 7.

[3] Diog. _Pro._ 19.

[4] Diog. _Pro._ 20.

Sextus in discussing this subject calls Scepticism an [Greek:
agogκ], or a movement, rather than a [Greek: hairesis], saying
that Scepticism is not a sect, if that word implies a systematic
arrangement of dogmas, for the Sceptic has no dogmas. If,
however, a sect may mean simply the following of a certain
system of reasoning according to what appears to be true, then
Scepticism is a sect.[1] From a quotation given later on by
Sextus from Aenesidemus, we know that the latter used the term
[Greek: agogκ].[2] Sextus gives also the other titles, so well
known as having been applied to Scepticism, namely, [Greek:
zκtκtikκ], [Greek: ephektikκ], and [Greek: aporκtikκ].[3] The
[Greek: dunamis][4] of Scepticism is to oppose the things of
sense and intellect in every possible way to each other, and
through the equal weight of things opposed, or [Greek:
isostheneia], to reach first the state of suspension of
judgement, and afterwards ataraxia, or "repose and tranquillity
of soul."[5] The purpose of Scepticism is then the hope of
ataraxia, and its origin was in the troubled state of mind
induced by the inequality of things, and uncertainty in regard
to the truth. Therefore, says Sextus, men of the greatest talent
began the Sceptical system by placing in opposition to every
argument an equal one, thus leading to a philosophical system
without a dogma, for the Sceptic claims that he has no dogma.[6]
The Sceptic is never supposed to state a decided opinion, but
only to say what appears to him. Even the Sceptical formulae,
such as "Nothing more,"[7] or "I decide nothing,"[8] or "All is
false," include themselves with other things. The only
statements that the Sceptic can make, are in regard to his own
sensations. He cannot deny that he is warm or cold or hungry.

[1] _Hyp._ I. 15, 17.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 210.

[3] _Hyp._ I. 7; Diog. IX. 11, 70.

[4] _Hyp._ I. 8.

[5] _Hyp._ I. 10.

[6] _Hyp._ I. 12.

[7] _Hyp._ I. 14.

[8] _Hyp._ I. 14.

Sextus replies to the charge that the Sceptics deny phenomena by
refuting it.[1] The Sceptic does not deny phenomena, because
they are the only criteria by which he can regulate his actions.
"We call the criterion of the Sceptical School the phenomenon,
meaning by this name the idea of it."[2] Phenomena are the only
things which the Sceptic does not deny, and he guides his life
by them. They are, however, subjective. Sextus distinctly
affirms that sensations are the phenomena,[3] and that they lie
in susceptibility and voluntary feeling, and that they
constitute the appearances of objects.[4] We see from this that
Sextus makes the only reality to consist in subjective
experience, but he does not follow this to its logical
conclusion, and doubt the existence of anything outside of mind.
He rather takes for granted that there is a something unknown
outside, about which the Sceptic can make no assertions.
Phenomena are the criteria according to which the Sceptic orders
his daily life, as he cannot be entirely inactive, and they
affect life in four different ways. They constitute the guidance
of nature, the impulse of feeling; they give rise to the
traditions of customs and laws, and make the teaching of the
arts important.[5] According to the tradition of laws and
customs, piety is a good in daily life, but it is not in itself
an abstract good. The Sceptic of Sextus' time also inculcated
the teaching of the arts, as indeed must be the case with
professing physicians, as most of the leading Sceptics were.
Sextus says, "We are not without energy in the arts which we
undertake."[6] This was a positive tendency which no philosophy,
however negative, could escape, and the Sceptic tried to avoid
inconsistency in this respect, by separating his philosophy from
his theory of life. His philosophy controlled his opinions, and
his life was governed by phenomena.

[1] _Hyp._ I. 19.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 19.

[3] _Hyp._ I. 22; Diog. IX. 11, 105.

[4] _Hyp._ I. 22.

[5] _Hyp._ I. 23.

[6] _Hyp._ I. 24.

The aim of Pyrrhonism was ataraxia in those things which pertain
to opinion, and moderation in the things which life imposes.[1]
In other words, we find here the same natural desire of the
human being to rise above and beyond the limitations which pain
and passion impose, which is expressed in other forms, and under
other names, in other schools of philosophy. The method,
however, by which ataraxia or peace of mind could be reached,
was peculiar to the Sceptic. It is a state of psychological
equilibrium, which results from the equality of the weight of
different arguments that are opposed to each other, and the
consequent impossibility of affirming in regard to either one,
that it is correct.[2] The discovery of ataraxia was, in the
first instance, apparently accidental, for while the Sceptic
withheld his opinion, unable to decide what things were true,
and what things were false, ataraxia fortunately followed.[3]
After he had begun to philosophize, with a desire to
discriminate in regard to ideas, and to separate the true from
the false[4] during the time of [Greek: epochκ], or suspension
of judgement, ataraxia followed as if by chance, as the shadow
follows the body.[5]

[1] _Hyp._ I. 25.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 26.

[3] _Hyp._ I. 26.

[4] Diog. IX. 11, 107.

[5] _Hyp._ I. 29.

The Sceptic in seeking ataraxia in the things of opinion, does
not entirely escape from suffering from his sensations. He is
not wholly undisturbed, for he is sometimes cold and hungry, and
so on.[1] He claims, nevertheless, that he suffers less than the
dogmatist, who is beset with two kinds of suffering, one from
the feelings themselves, and also from the conviction that they
are by nature an evil.[2] To the Sceptic nothing is in itself
either an evil or a good, and so he thinks that "he escapes from
difficulties easier."[3] For instance, he who considers riches a
good in themselves, is unhappy in the loss of them, and in
possession of them is in fear of losing them, while the Sceptic,
remembering the Sceptical saying "No more," is untroubled in
whatever condition he may be found, as the loss of riches is no
more an evil than the possession of them is a good.[4] For he
who considers anything good or bad by nature is always troubled,
and when that which seemed good is not present with him, he
thinks that he is tortured by that which is by nature bad, and
follows after what he thinks to be good. Having acquired it,
however, he is not at rest, for his reason tells him that a
sudden change may deprive him of this thing that he considers a
good.[5] The Sceptic, however, endeavours neither to avoid nor
seek anything eagerly.[6]

[1] _Hyp._ I. 30.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 30.

[3] _Hyp._ I. 30; Diog. IX. 11, 61.

[4] _Adv. Math._ XI. 146-160.

[5] _Hyp._ I. 27.

[6] _Hyp._ I. 28.

Ataraxia came to the Sceptic as success in painting the foam on
a horse's mouth came to Apelles the painter. After many attempts
to do this, and many failures, he gave up in despair, and threw
the sponge at the picture that he had used to wipe the colors
from the painting with. As soon as it touched the picture it
produced a representation of the foam.[1] Thus the Sceptics were
never able to attain to ataraxia by examining the anomaly
between the phenomena and the things of thought, but it came to
them of its own accord just when they despaired of finding it.

The intellectual preparation for producing ataraxia, consists in
placing arguments in opposition to each other, both in regard to
phenomena, and to things of the intellect. By placing the
phenomenal in opposition to the phenomenal, the intellectual to
the intellectual, and the phenomenal to the intellectual, and
_vice versa_, the present to the present, past, and future, one
will find that no argument exists that is incontrovertible. It
is not necessary to accept any statement whatever as true, and
consequently a state of [Greek: epochκ] may always be
maintained.[2] Although ataraxia concerns things of the opinion,
and must be preceded by the intellectual process described
above, it is not itself a function of the intellect, or any
subtle kind of reasoning, but seems to be rather a unique form
of moral perfection, leading to happiness, or is itself
happiness.

[1] _Hyp._ I. 28, 29.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 32-35.

It was the aim of Scepticism to know nothing, and to assert
nothing in regard to any subject, but at the same time not to
affirm that knowledge on all subjects is impossible, and
consequently to have the attitude of still seeking. The
standpoint of Pyrrhonism was materialistic. We find from the
teachings of Sextus that he affirmed the non-existence of the
soul,[1] or the ego, and denied absolute existence
altogether.[2] The introductory statements of Diogenes regarding
Pyrrhonism would agree with this standpoint.[3]

There is no criterion of truth in Scepticism. We cannot prove
that the phenomena represent objects, or find out what the
relation of phenomena to objects is. There is no criterion to
tell us which one is true of all the different representations
of the same object, and of all the varieties of sensation that
arise through the many phases of relativity of the conditions
which control the character of the phenomena.

Every effort to find the truth can deal only with phenomena, and
absolute reality can never be known.

[1] _Adv. Math._ VII. 55; _Hyp._ II. 32.

[2] _Adv. Math._ XI. 140.

[3] Diog. IX. 11, 61.




CHAPTER III.


_The Sceptical Tropes_.

The exposition of the Tropes of Pyrrhonism constitutes
historically and philosophically the most important part of the
writings of Sextus Empiricus. These Tropes represent the sum
total of the wisdom of the older Sceptical School, and were held
in high respect for centuries, not only by the Pyrrhoneans, but
also by many outside the narrow limits of that School. In the
first book of the _Hypotyposes_ Sextus gives two classes of
Tropes, those of [Greek: epochκ] and the eight Tropes of
Aenesidemus against Aetiology.

The Tropes of [Greek: epochκ] are arranged in groups of ten,
five and two, according to the period of the Sceptical School to
which they belong; the first of these groups is historically the
most important, or the Ten Tropes of [Greek: epochκ], as these
are far more closely connected with the general development of
Scepticism, than the later ones. By the name [Greek: tropos] or
Trope, the Sceptic understood a manner of thought, or form of
argument, or standpoint of judgement. It was a term common in
Greek philosophy, used in this sense, from the time of
Aristotle.[1] The Stoics, however, used the word with a
different meaning from that attributed to it by the Sceptics.[2]
Stephanus and Fabricius translate it by the Latin word
_modus_[3] and [Greek: tropos] also is often used
interchangeably with the word [Greek: logos] by Sextus, Diogenes
Laertius, and others; sometimes also as synonymous with [Greek:
topos],[4] and [Greek: typos] is found in the oldest edition of
Sextus.[5] Diogenes defines the word as the standpoint, or
manner of argument, by which the Sceptics arrived at the
condition of doubt, in consequence of the equality of
probabilities, and he calls the Tropes, the ten Tropes of
doubt.[6] All writers on Pyrrhonism after the time of
Aenesidemus give the Tropes the principal place in their
treatment of the subject. Sextus occupies two thirds of the
first book of the _Hypotyposes_ in stating and discussing them;
and about one fourth of his presentation of Scepticism is
devoted to the Tropes by Diogenes. In addition to these two
authors, Aristocles the Peripatetic refers to them in his attack
on Scepticism.[7] Favorinus wrote a book entitled _Pyrrhonean
Tropes_, and Plutarch one called _The Ten ([Greek: topoi]) Topes
of Pyrrho_.[8] Both of these latter works are lost.

[1] Pappenheim _Erlauterung Pyrrh. Grundzugen_, p. 35.

[2] Diog I. 76; _Adv. Math._ VIII. 227.

[3] Fabricius, Cap. XIV. 7.

[4] _Hyp._ I. 36.

[5] Fabricius on _Hyp._ I. 36; Cap. XIV. G.

[6] Diog. IX. 11, 79-108.

[7] Aristocles _Euseb. praep. ev._ X. 14, 18.

[8] Fabricius on _Hyp._ I. 36.

All authorities unite in attributing to Aenesidemus the work of
systematizing and presenting to the world the ten Tropes of
[Greek: epochκ]. He was the first to conceive the project of
opposing an organized philosophical system of Pyrrhonism to the
dogmatism of his contemporaries.[1] Moreover, the fact that
Diogenes introduces the Tropes into his life of Pyrrho, does not
necessarily imply that he considered Pyrrho their author, for
Diogenes invariably combines the teachings of the followers of a
movement with those of the founders themselves; he gives these
Tropes after speaking of Aenesidemus' work entitled _Pyrrhonean
Hypotyposes_, and apparently quotes from this book, in giving at
least a part of his presentation of Pyrrhonism, either directly
or through, the works of others. Nietzsche proposes a correction
of the text of Diogenes IX. 11, 79, which would make him quote the
Tropes from a book by Theodosius,[2] author of a commentary on
the works of Theodas. No writer of antiquity claims for the
Tropes an older source than the books of Aenesidemus, to whom
Aristocles also attributes them.[3] They are not mentioned in
Diogenes' life of Timon, the immediate disciple of Pyrrho.
Cicero has no knowledge of them, and does not refer to them in
his discussion of Scepticism.

[1] Compare Saisset _Op. cit._ p. 78.

[2] Brochard _Op. cit._ 254, Note 4.

[3] Aristocles _Eus. praep. ev._ XIV. 18. 8.

Aenesidemus was undoubtedly the first to formulate these Tropes,
but many things tend to show that they resulted, in reality,
from the gradual classification of the results of the teachings
of Pyrrho, in the subsequent development of thought from his own
time to that of Aenesidemus. The ideas contained in the Tropes
were not original with Aenesidemus, but are more closely
connected with the thought of earlier times. The decidedly
empirical character of the Tropes proves this connection, for
the eight Tropes of Aetiology, which were original with
Aenesidemus, bear a far stronger dialectic stamp, thus showing a
more decided dialectic influence of the Academy than is found in
the Tropes of [Greek: epochκ]. Many of the illustrations given
of the Tropes also, testify to a time of greater antiquity than
that of Aenesidemus. The name Trope was well known in ancient
times, and the number ten reminds us of the ten opposing
principles of Pythagoras, and the ten categories of Aristotle,
the fourth of which was the same as the eighth Trope. The
terminology, however, with very few exceptions, points to a
later period than that of Pyrrho. Zeller points out a number of
expressions in both Diogenes' and Sextus' exposition of the
Tropes, which could not date back farther than the time of
Aenesidemus.[1] One of the most striking features of the whole
presentation of the Tropes, especially as given by Sextus, is
their mosaic character, stamping them not as the work of one
person, but as a growth, and also an agglutinous growth, lacking
very decidedly the symmetry of thought that the work of one mind
would have shown.

[1] Zeller _Op. cit._ p. 25.

At the time of the separation of Pyrrhonism from the Academy, no
other force was as strong in giving life to the school as the
systematic treatment by Aenesidemus of the Ten Tropes of [Greek:
epochκ]. The reason of this is evident. It was not that the
ideas of the Sceptical Tropes were original with Aenesidemus,
but because a definite statement of belief is always a far more
powerful influence than principles which are vaguely understood
and accepted. There is always, however, the danger to the
Sceptic, in making a statement even of the principles of
Scepticism, that the psychological result would be a dogmatic
tendency of mind, as we shall see later was the case, even with
Aenesidemus himself. That the Sceptical School could not escape
the accusation of dogmatizing, from the Dogmatics, even in
stating the grounds of their Scepticism, we know from
Diogenes.[1] To avoid this dogmatic tendency of the ten Tropes,
Sextus makes the frequent assertion that he does not affirm
things to be absolutely true, but states them as they appear to
him, and that they may be otherwise from what he has said.[2]

[1] Diog. IX. 11, 102.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 4, 24.

Sextus tells us that "Certain Tropes, ten in number, for
producing the state of [Greek: epochκ] have been handed down
from the older Sceptics."[1] He refers to them in another work
as the "Tropes of Aenesidemus."[2] There is no evidence that the
substance of these Tropes was changed after the time of
Aenesidemus, although many of the illustrations given by Sextus
must have been of a later date, added during the two centuries
that elapsed between the time of Aenesidemus and Sextus. In
giving these Tropes Sextus does not claim to offer a systematic
methodical classification, and closes his list of them, in their
original concise form, with the remark, "We make this order
ourselves."[3] The order is given differently by Diogenes, and
also by Favorinus.[4] The Trope which Sextus gives as the tenth
is the fifth given by Diogenes, the seventh by Sextus is the
eighth given by Diogenes, the fifth by Sextus, the seventh by
Diogenes, the tenth by Diogenes, the eighth by Sextus. Diogenes
says that the one he gives as the ninth Favorinus calls the
eighth, and Sextus and Aenesidemus the tenth. This statement
does not correspond with the list of the Tropes which Sextus
gives, proving that Diogenes took some other text than that of
Sextus as his authority.[5] The difference in the order of the
Tropes shows, also, that the order was not considered a matter
of great importance. There is a marked contrast in the spirit of
the two presentations of the Tropes given by Sextus and
Diogenes. The former gives them not only as an orator, but as
one who feels that he is defending his own cause, and the school
of which he is the leader, against mortal enemies, while
Diogenes relates them as an historian.

[1] _Hyp._ I. 36.

[2] _Adv. Math._ VII. 345.

[3] _Hyp._ I. 38.

[4] Diog. IX. 11, 87.

[5] Diog. IX. 11, 87.

Pappenheim tries to prove[1] that Aenesidemus originally gave
only nine Tropes in his _Pyrrhonean Hypotyposes_, as Aristocles
mentions only nine in referring to the Tropes of Aenesidemus,
and that the tenth was added later. Had this been the case,
however, the fact would surely have been mentioned either by
Diogenes or Sextus, who both refer to the ten Tropes of
Aenesidemus.

The Tropes claim to prove that the character of phenomena is so
relative and changeable, that certain knowledge cannot be based
upon them, and as we have shown, there is no other criterion of
knowledge for the Sceptic than phenomena.[2] All of the Tropes,
except the tenth, are connected with sense-perception, and
relate to the difference of the results obtained through the
senses under different circumstances. They may be divided into
two classes, _i.e._, those based upon differences of our
physical organism, and those based upon external differences. To
the first class belong the first, second, third and fourth; to
the second class, the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth, and also
the ninth. The eighth, or that of relation, is applied
objectively both by Sextus and Diogenes in their treatment of
the Tropes, and is not used for objects of thought alone, but
principally to show the relation of outward objects to each
other. The tenth is the only one which has a moral significance,
and it has also a higher subjective value than the others; it
takes its arguments from an entirely different sphere of
thought, and deals with metaphysical and religious
contradictions in opinion, and with the question of good and
evil. That this Trope is one of the oldest, we know from its
distinct mention in connection with the foundation theories of
Pyrrho, by Diogenes.[3] In treating of the subjective reasons
for doubt as to the character of external reality, the Sceptics
were very near the denial of all outward reality, a point,
however, which they never quite reached.

[1] Pappenheim, _Die Tropen der Griechen_, p. 23.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 22.

[3] Diog. IX. 11, 61.

There is evidently much of Sextus' own thought mixed with the
illustrations of the Tropes, but it is impossible to separate
the original parts from the material that was the common
property of the Sceptical School. Many of these illustrations
show, however, perfect familiarity with the scientific and
medical teachings of the time. Before entering upon his
exposition of the Tropes, Sextus gives them in the short concise
form in which they must first have existed[1]--

(i) Based upon the variety of animals.

(ii) Based upon the differences between men.

(iii) Based upon differences in the constitution of
the sense organs.

(iv) Based upon circumstances.

(v) Based upon position, distance and place.

(vi) Based upon mixtures.

(vii) Based upon the quantities and constitutions
of objects.

(viii) Relation.

(ix) Based upon frequency or rarity of occurences.

(x) Based upon systems, customs and laws,
mythical beliefs, and dogmatic opinions.

[1] _Hyp._ I. 36-38.

Although Sextus is careful not to dogmatise regarding the
arrangement of the Tropes, yet there is in his classification of
them a regular gradation, from the arguments based upon
differences in animals to those in man, first considering the
latter in relation to the physical constitution, and then to
circumstances outside of us, and finally the treatment of
metaphysical and moral differences.

_The First Trope_.[1] That the same mental representations are
not found in different animals, may be inferred from their
differences in constitution resulting from their different
origins, and from the variety in their organs of sense. Sextus
takes up the five senses in order, giving illustrations to prove
the relative results of the mental representations in all of
them, as for example the subjectivity of color[2] and sound.[3]
All knowledge of objects through the senses is relative and not
absolute. Sextus does not, accordingly, confine the
impossibility of certain knowledge to the qualities that Locke
regards as secondary, but includes also the primary ones in this
statement.[4] The form and shape of objects as they appear to us
may be changed by pressure on the eyeball. Furthermore, the
character of reflections in mirrors depend entirely on their
shape, as the images in concave mirrors are very different from
those in convex ones; and so in the same way as the eyes of
animals are of different shapes, and supplied with different
fluids, the ideas of dogs, fishes, men and grasshoppers must be
very different.[5]

[1] _Hyp._. I. 40-61.

[2] _Hyp._. I. 44-46.

[3] _Hyp._. I. 50.

[4] _Hyp._. I. 47.

[5] _Hyp._. I. 49.

In discussing the mental representations of animals of different
grades of intelligence, Sextus shows a very good comprehension
of the philogenetic development of the organs of sense, and
draws the final conclusion that external objects are regarded
differently by animals, according to their difference in
constitution.[1] These differences in the ideas which different
animals have of the same objects are demonstrated by their
different tastes, as the things desired by some are fatal to
others.[2] The practical illustrations given of this result show
a familiarity with natural history, and cognizance of the tastes
and habits of many animals,[3] but were probably few of them
original with Sextus, unless perhaps in their application; that
this train of reasoning was the common property of the Sceptic
School, we know from the fact that Diogenes begins his
exposition of the first Trope in a way similar to that of
Sextus.[4] His illustrations are, however, few and meagre
compared with those of Sextus, and the scientific facts used by
both of them may mostly be found in other authors of antiquity
given in a similar way.[5] The logical result of the reasoning
used to explain the first Trope, is that we cannot compare the
ideas of the animals with each other, nor with our own; nor can
we prove that our ideas are more trustworthy than those of the
animals.[6] As therefore an examination of ideas is impossible,
any decided opinion about their trustworthiness is also
impossible, and this Trope leads to the suspension of judgment
regarding external objects, or to [Greek: epochκ.][7]

[1] _Hyp._. I. 54.

[2] _Hyp._. I. 55.

[3] _Hyp._. I. 55-59.

[4] Diog. IX. 11, 79-80.

[5] Pappenheim _Erlauterung Pyrr. Grundzόge Par_. 41.

[6] _Hyp_. I. 59.

[7] _Hyp_. I. 61.

After reaching this conclusion, Sextus introduces a long chapter
to prove that animals can reason. There is no reference to this
in Diogenes, but there is other testimony to show that it was a
favourite line of argument with the Sceptics.[1] Sextus,
however, says that his course of reasoning is different from
that of most of the Sceptics on the subject,[2] as they usually
applied their arguments to all animals, while he selected only
one, namely the dog.[3] This chapter is full of sarcastic
attacks on the Dogmatics, and contains the special allusion to
the Stoics as the greatest opponents of the Sceptics, which has
been before referred to.[4]

Sextus claims with a greater freedom of diction than in some
apparently less original chapters, and with a wealth of special
illustrations, that the dog is superior to man in acuteness of
perception,[5] that he has the power of choice, and possesses an
art, that of hunting,[6] and, also, is not deprived of
virtue,[7] as the true nature of virtue is to show justice to
all, which the dog does by guarding loyally those who are kind
to him, and keeping off those who do evil.[8] The reasoning
power of this animal is proved by the story taken from
Chrysippus, of the dog that came to a meeting of three roads in
following a scent. After seeking the scent in vain in two of the
roads, he takes the third road without scenting it as a result
of a quick process of thought, which proves that he shares in
the famous dialectic of Chrysippus,[9] the five forms of [Greek:
_anapodeiktoi logoi_,] of which the dog chooses the fifth.
Either _A_ or _B_ or _C_, not _A_ or _B,_ therefore _C_.

[1] _Hyp_. I. 238.

[2] Compare Brochard _Op. cit._ 256.

[3] _Hyp_. I. 62-63.

[4] _Hyp_. I. 65.

[5] _Hyp_. I. 64.

[6] _Hyp_. I. 66.

[7] _Hyp_. I. 67.

[8] _Hyp_. I. 67.

[9] _Hyp_. I. 69; _Hyp_. II. 166; Diog. VII. 1, 79.

The dog and other irrational animals may also possess spoken
language, as the only proof that we have to the contrary, is the
fact that we cannot understand the sounds that they make.[1] We
have an example in this chapter of the humor of Sextus, who
after enlarging on the perfect character of the dog, remarks,
"For which reason it seems to me some philosophers have honoured
themselves with the name of this animal,"[2] thus making a
sarcastic allusion to the Cynics, especially Antisthenes.[3]

[1] _Hyp_. I. 74.

[2] _Hyp_. I. 72.

[3] Diog. VI. 1, 13.

_The Second Trope_. Passing on to the second Trope, Sextus aims
to prove that even if we leave the differences of the mental
images of animals out of the discussion, there is not a
sufficient unanimity in the mental images of human beings to
allow us to base any assertions upon them in regard to the
character of external objects.[1] He had previously announced
that he intended to oppose the phenomenal to the intellectual
"in any way whatever,"[2] so he begins here by referring to the
two parts of which man is said to be composed, the soul and the
body, and proceeds to discuss the differences among men in
sense-perception and in opinion.[3] Most of the illustrations
given of differences in sense-perception are medical ones; of
the more general of these I will note the only two which are
also given by Diogenes in his exposition of this Trope,[4] viz.,
Demophon, Alexander's table waiter, who shivered in the sun, and
Andron the Argive, who was so free from thirst that he travelled
through the desert of Libya without seeking a drink. Some have
reasoned from the presence of the first of these illustrations
in the exposition of the Tropes, that a part of this material at
least goes back to the time of Pyrrho, as Pyrrho from his
intimacy with Alexander, when he accompanied him to India, had
abundant opportunities to observe the peculiarities of his
servant Demophon.[5] The illustration of Andron the Argive is
taken from Aristotle, according to Diogenes.[6]

[1] _Hyp_. I. 79.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 8.

[3] _Hyp._ I. 80.

[4] Diog. IX. 11, 80-81.

[5] Compare _Pyrrhon et le Scepticism primitive, Revue
phil._, Paris 1885, No. 5; Victor Brochard, p. 521.

[6] Diog. IX. 11, 81.

Passing on to differences of opinion, we have another example of
the sarcastic humor of Sextus, as he refers to the [Greek:
physiognτmonikκ sophia][1] as the authority for believing that
the body is a type of the soul. As the bodies of men differ, so
the souls also probably differ. The differences of mind among
men is not referred to by Diogenes, except in the general
statement that they choose different professions; while Sextus
elaborates this point, speaking of the great differences in
opposing schools of philosophy, and in the objects of choice and
avoidance, and sources of pleasure for different men.[2] The
poets well understand this marked difference in human desires,
as Homer says,

"One man enjoys this, another enjoys that."

Sextus also quotes the beautiful lines of Pindar,[3]

"One delights in getting honours and crowns through
stormfooted horses,
Others in passing life in rooms rich in gold,
Another safe travelling enjoys, in a swift ship,
on a wave of the sea."

[1] _Hyp._ I. 85.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 87-89.

[3] _Hyp._ I. 86.

_The Third Trope_. The third Trope limits the argument to the
sense-perceptions of one man, a Dogmatic, if preferred, or to
one whom the Dogmatics consider wise,[1] and states that as the
ideas given by the different sense organs differ radically in a
way that does not admit of their being compared with each other,
they furnish no reliable testimony regarding the nature of
objects.[2] "Each of the phenomena perceived by us seems to
present itself in many forms, as the apple, smooth, fragrant
brown and sweet." The apple was evidently the ordinary example
given for this Trope, for Diogenes uses the same, but in a much
more condensed form, and not with equal understanding of the
results to be deduced from it.[3] The consequence of the
incompatibility of the mental representations produced through
the several sense organs by the apple, may be the acceptance of
either of the three following propositions: (i) That only those
qualities exist in the apple which we perceive. (ii) That more
than these exist. (iii) That even those perceived do not
exist.[4] Accordingly, any experience which can give rise to
such different views regarding outward objects, cannot be relied
upon as a testimony concerning them.

[1] _Hyp._ I. 90.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 94.

[3] Diog. IX. 11 81.

[4] _Hyp._ I. 99.

The non-homogeneous nature of the mental images connected with
the different sense organs, as presented by Sextus, reminds us
of the discussion of the same subject by Berkeley in his _Theory
of Vision_.

Sextus says that a man born with less than the usual number of
senses, would form altogether different ideas of the external
world than those who have the usual number, and as our ideas of
objects depend on our mental images, a greater number of sense
organs would give us still different ideas of outward
reality.[1] The strong argument of the Stoics against such
reasoning as this, was their doctrine of pre-established harmony
between nature and the soul, so that when a representation is
produced in us of a real object, a [Greek: katalκptikκ
phantasia],[2] by this representation the soul grasps a real
existence. There is a [Greek: logos] in us which is of the same
kind, [Greek: syngenos], or in relation to all nature. This
argument of pre-established harmony between the faculties of the
soul and the objects of nature, is the one that has been used in
all ages to combat philosophical teaching that denies that we
apprehend the external world as it is. It was used against Kant
by his opponents, who thought in this way to refute his
teachings.[3] The Sceptics could not, of course, accept a theory
of nature that included the soul and the external world in one
harmonious whole, but Sextus in his discussion of the third
Trope does not refute this argument as fully as he does later in
his work against logic.[4] He simply states here that
philosophers themselves cannot agree as to what nature is, and
furthermore, that a philosopher himself is a part of the
discord, and to be judged, rather than being capable of judging,
and that no conclusion can be reached by those who are
themselves an element of the uncertainty.[5]

[1] _Hyp._ I. 96-97.

[2] _Adv. Math._ VII. 93.

[3] Ueberweg _Op. cit._ 195.

[4] _Adv. Math._ VII. 354.

[5] _Hyp._ I. 98-99.

_The Fourth Trope_. This Trope limits the argument to each
separate sense, and the effect is considered of the condition of
body and mind upon sense-perception in relation to the several
sense-organs.[1] The physical states which modify
sense-perception are health and illness, sleeping and waking,
youth and age, hunger and satiety, drunkenness and sobriety. All
of these conditions of the body entirely change the character of
the mental images, producing different judgments of the color,
taste, and temperature of objects, and of the character of
sounds. A man who is asleep is in a different world from one
awake, the existence of both worlds being relative to the
condition of waking and sleeping.[2]

The subjective states which Sextus mentions here as modifying
the character of the mental representations are hating or
loving, courage or fear, sorrow or joy, and sanity or
insanity.[3] No man is ever twice in exactly the same condition
of body or mind, and never able to review the differences of his
ideas as a sum total, for those of the present moment only are
subject to careful inspection.[4] Furthermore, no one is free
from the influence of all conditions of body or mind, so that he
can be unbiassed to judge his ideas, and no criterion can be
established that can be shown to be true, but on the contrary,
whatever course is pursued on the subject, both the criterion
and the proof will be thrown into the _circulus in probando_,
for the truth of each rests on the other.[5]

[1] _Hyp._ I. 100.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 104.

[3] _Hyp._ I. 100.

[4] _Hyp._ I. 112.

[5] _Hyp._ I. 117.

Diogenes gives in part the same illustrations of this Trope, but
in a much more condensed form. The marked characteristic of this
train of reasoning is the attempt to prove that abnormal
conditions are also natural. In referring at first to the
opposing states of body and mind, which so change the character
of sense-perception, Sextus classifies them according to the
popular usage as [Greek: kata physin] and [Greek: para physin].
This distinction was an important one, even with Aristotle, and
was especially developed by the Stoics[1] in a broader sense
than referring merely to health and sickness. The Stoics,
however, considered only normal conditions as being according to
nature. Sextus, on the contrary, declares that abnormal states
are also conditions according to nature,[2] and just as those
who are in health are in a state that is natural to those who
are in health, so also those not in health are in a state that
is natural to those not in health, and in some respects
according to nature. Existence, then, and non-existence are not
absolute, but relative, and the world of sleep as really exists
for those who are asleep as the things that exist in waking
exist, although they do not exist in sleep.[3] One mental
representation, therefore, cannot be judged by another, which is
also in a state of relation to existing physical and mental
conditions. Diogenes states this principle even more decidedly
in his exposition of this Trope. "The insane are not in a
condition opposed to nature; why they more than we? For we also
see the sun as if it were stationary."[4] Furthermore, in
different periods of life ideas differ. Children are fond of
balls and hoops, while those in their prime prefer other things,
and the aged still others.[5] The wisdom contained in this Trope
in reference to the relative value of the things most sought
after is not original with Sextus, but is found in the more
earnest ethical teachings of older writers. Sextus does not,
however, draw any moral conclusions from this reasoning, but
only uses it as an argument for [Greek: epochκ].

[1] Diog. VII. 1, 86.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 103.

[3] _Hyp._ I. 104.

[4] Diog. IX. 11, 82.

[5] _Hyp._ I. 106.

_The Fifth Trope_. This Trope leaves the discussion of the
dependence of the ideas upon the physical nature, and takes up
the influence of the environment upon them. It makes the
difference in ideas depend upon the position, distance, and
place of objects, thus taking apparently their real existence
for granted. Things change their form and shape according to the
distance from which they are observed, and the position in which
they stand.[1]

The same light or tone alters decidedly in different
surroundings. Perspective in paintings depends on the angle at
which the picture is suspended.[2] With Diogenes this Trope is
the seventh,[3] and his exposition of it is similar, but as
usual, shorter. Both Sextus and Diogenes give the
illustration[4] of the neck of the dove differing in color in
different degrees of inclination, an illustration used by
Protagoras also to prove the relativity of perception by the
senses. "The black neck of the dove in the shade appears black,
but in the light sunny and purple."[5] Since, then, all
phenomena are regarded in a certain place, and from a certain
distance, and according to a certain position, each of which
relations makes a great difference with the mental images, we
shall be obliged also by this Trope to come to the reserving of
the opinion.[6]

[1] _Hyp._ I. 118.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 120.

[3] Diog. IX. 11, 85.

[4] _Hyp._ I. 120; Diog. IX. 11, 86.

[5] _Schol. zu Arist._ 60, 18, ed. Brandis; Pappen. _Er.
Pyrr. Grundzόge_, p. 54.

[6] _Hyp._ I. 121.

_The Sixth Trope_. This Trope leads to [Greek: epochκ] regarding
the nature of objects, because no object can ever be presented
to the organs of sense directly, but must always be perceived
through some medium, or in some mixture.[1] This mixture may be
an outward one, connected with the temperature, or the rarity of
the air, or the water[2] surrounding an object, or it may be a
mixture resulting from the different humors of the
sense-organs.[3] A man with the jaundice, for example, sees
colors differently from one who is in health. The illustration
of the jaundice is a favorite one with the Sceptics. Diogenes
uses it several times in his presentation of Scepticism, and it
occurs in Sextus' writings in all, as an illustration, in eight
different places.[4] The condition of the organ of the [Greek:
hκgemonikon], or the ruling faculty, may also cause mixtures.
Pappenheim thinks that we have here Kant's idea of _a priori_,
only on a materialistic foundation.[5] A careful consideration
of the passage, however, shows us that Sextus' thought is more
in harmony with the discoveries of modern psychiatry than with
the philosophy of Kant. If the sentence, [Greek: isτs de kai
autκ (hκ dianoia) epimixian tina idian poieitai pros ta hypo tτn
aisthκseτn anangellomena],[6] stood alone, without further
explanation, it might well refer to _a priori_ laws of thought,
but the explanation which follows beginning with "because" makes
that impossible.[7] "Because in each of the places where the
Dogmatics think that the ruling faculty is, we see present
certain humors, which are the cause of mixtures." Sextus does
not advance any opinion as to the place of the ruling faculty in
the body, which is, according to the Stoics, the principal part
of the soul, where ideas, desires, and reasoning originate,[8]
but simply refers to the two theories of the Dogmatics, which
claim on the one hand that it is in the brain, and on the other
that it is in the heart.[9] This subject he deals with more
fully in his work against logic.[10] As, however, he bases his
argument, in discussing possible intellectual mixtures in
illustration of the sixth Trope, entirely on the condition of
the organ of the intellect, it is evident that his theory of the
soul was a materialistic one.

[1] _Hyp._ I. 124.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 125.

[3] _Hyp._ I. 126.

[4] See Index to Bekker's edition of Sextus.

[5] Papp. _Er. Pyr. Gr._ p. 55.

[6] _Hyp._ I. 128.

[7] _Hyp._ I. 128.

[8] Diog. VII. 1, 159.

[9] _Hyp._ I. 128.

[10] _Adv. Math._ VII. 313.

_The Seventh Trope_. This Trope, based upon the quantities and
compositions of objects, is illustrated by examples of different
kinds of food, drink, and medicine, showing the different
effects according to the quantity taken, as the harmfulness and
the usefulness of most things depend on their quantity. Things
act differently upon the senses if applied in small or large
quantities, as filings of metal or horn, and separate grains of
sand have a different color and touch from the same taken in the
form of a solid.[1] The result is that ideas vary according to
the composition of the object, and this Trope also brings to
confusion the existence of outward objects, and leads us to
reserve our opinion in regard to them.[2] This Trope is
illustrated by Diogenes with exceeding brevity.[3]

[1] _Hyp._ I. 129-131.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 134.

[3] Diog. IX. 11, 86.

_The Eighth Trope_. The Trope based upon relation contains, as
Sextus rightly remarks, the substance of the other nine,[1] for
the general statement of the relativity of knowledge includes
the other statements made. The prominence which Sextus gave this
Trope in his introduction to the ten Tropes leads one to expect
here new illustrations and added[2] arguments for [Greek:
epochκ]. We find, however, neither of these, but simply a
statement that all things are in relation in one of two ways,
either directly, or as being a part of a difference. These two
kinds of relation are given by Protagoras, and might have been
used to good purpose in the introduction to the Tropes, or at
the end, to prove that all the others were really subordinate to
the eighth. The reasoning is, however simply applied to the
relation of objects to each other, and nothing is added that is
not found elsewhere where as an argument for [Greek: epochκ].[3]
This Trope is the tenth by Diogenes, and he strengthens his
reasoning in regard to it, by a statement that Sextus does not
directly make, _i.e._, that everything is in relation to the
understanding.[4]

[1] _Hyp._ I. 39.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 135-140.

[3] _Hyp._ I. 135-140.

[4] Diog. IX. 11, 88.

_The Ninth Trope_. This is based upon the frequency and rarity
of events, and refers to some of the phenomena of nature, such
as the rising of the sun, and the sea, as no longer a source of
astonishment, while a comet or an earthquake are wonders to
those not accustomed to them.[1] The value of objects also
depends on their rarity, as for example the value of gold.[2]
Furthermore, things may be valuable at one time, and at another
not so, according to the frequency and rarity of the
occurrence.[3] Therefore this Trope also leads to [Greek:
epochκ]. Diogenes gives only two illustrations to this Trope,
that of the sun and the earthquake.[4]

[1] _Hyp._ I. 141-142.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 143.

[3] _Hyp._ I. 144.

[4] Diog. IX. 11, 87.

_The Tenth Trope_. We have already remarked on the difference in
the character of the tenth Trope, dealing as it does, not with
the ideas of objects, like the other nine Tropes, but with
philosophical and religious opinions, and questions of right and
wrong. It was the well-known aim of the Sceptics to submit to
the laws and customs of the land where they were found, and to
conform to certain moral teachings and religious ceremonies;
this they did without either affirming or denying the truth of
the principles upon which these teachings were based,[1] and
also without any passion or strong feeling in regard to them,[2]
as nothing in itself can be proved to be good or evil. The tenth
Trope accordingly, brings forward contradictions in customs,
laws, and the beliefs of different lands, to show that they are
also changeable and relative, and not of absolute worth. The
foundation-thought of this Trope is given twice by Diogenes,
once as we have before stated in his introduction[3] to the life
of Pyrrho, and also as one of the Tropes.[4] As it is apparently
one of the oldest of the Tropes, it would naturally be much used
in discussing with the Stoics, whose philosophy had such a wide
ethical significance, and must also have held an important place
in the Sceptical School in all metaphysical and philosophical
discussions. The definition[5] in the beginning of Sextus'
exposition of this Trope Fabricius thinks was taken from
Aristotle, of schools, laws, customs, mythical beliefs and
dogmatic opinions,[6] and the definition which Diogenes gives of
law in his life of Plato[7] is similar. Pappenheim, however,
thinks they were taken from the Stoics, perhaps from
Chrysippus.[8] The argument is based upon the differences in
development of thought, as affecting the standpoint of judgment
in philosophy, in morals, and religion, the results of which we
find in the widely opposing schools of philosophy, in the
variety in religious belief, and in the laws and customs of
different countries. Therefore the decisions reached in the
world of thought leave us equally in doubt regarding the
absolute value of any standards, with those obtained through
sense-perception, and the universal conflict of opinion
regarding all questions of philosophy and ethics leads us also
according to this Trope to the reserving of the opinion.[9] This
Trope is the fifth as given by Diogenes, who placed it directly
after the first four which relate more especially to human
development,[10] while Sextus uses it as the final one, perhaps
thinking that an argument based upon the higher powers of man
deserves the last place, or is the summation of the other
arguments.

[1] _Hyp._ I. 24.

[2] _Hyp._ III. 235.

[3] Diog. IX. 11, 61.

[4] Diog. IX. 11, 83.

[5] _Hyp._ I. 145-147.

[6] Fabricius, Cap. IV. H.

[7] Diog. III. 86.

[8] Pappenheim _Gr. Pyrr. Grundzόge_, p. 50.

[9] _Hyp._ I. 163.

[10] Diog. IX. 11, 83.

Following the exposition of the ten Tropes of the older
Sceptics, Sextus gives the five Tropes which he attributes to
the "later Sceptics."[1] Sextus nowhere mentions the author of
these Tropes. Diogenes, however, attributes them to Agrippa, a
man of whom we know nothing except his mention of him. He was
evidently one of the followers of Aenesidemus, and a scholar of
influence in the Sceptical School, who must have himself had
disciples, as Diogenes says, [Greek: hoi peri Agrippan][2] add
to these tropes other five tropes, using the plural verb.
Another Sceptic, also mentioned by Diogenes, and a man unknown
from other sources, named some of his books after Agrippa.[3]
Agrippa is not given by Diogenes in the list of the leaders of
the Sceptical School, but[4] his influence in the development of
the thought of the School must have been great, as the
transition from the ten Tropes of the "older Sceptics" to the
five attributed to Agrippa is a marked one, and shows the
entrance into the school of a logical power before unknown in
it. The latter are not a reduction of the Tropes of Aenesidemus,
but are written from an entirely different standpoint. The ten
Tropes are empirical, and aim to furnish objective proofs of the
foundation theories of Pyrrhonism, while the five are rather
rules of thought leading to logical proof, and are dialectic in
their character. We find this distinction illustrated by the
different way in which the Trope of relativity is treated in the
two groups. In the first it points to an objective relativity,
but with Agrippa to a general subjective logical principle. The
originality of the Tropes of Agrippa does not lie in their
substance matter, but in their formulation and use in the
Sceptical School. These methods of proof were, of course, not
new, but were well known to Aristotle, and were used by the
Sceptical Academy, and probably also by Timon,[5] while the
[Greek: pros ti] goes back at least to Protagoras. The five
Tropes are as follows.

(i) The one based upon discord.
(ii) The _regressus in infinitum_.
(iii) Relation.
(iv) The hypothetical.
(v) The _circulus in probando_.

Two of these are taken from the old list, the first and the
third, and Sextus says that the five Tropes are intended to
supplement the ten Tropes, and to show the audacity of the
Dogmatics in a variety of ways.[6] The order of these Tropes is
the same with Diogenes as with Sextus, but the definitions of
them differ sufficiently to show that the two authors took their
material from different sources. According to the first one
everything in question is either sensible or intellectual, and
in attempting to judge it either in life, practically, or "among
philosophers," a position is developed from which it is
impossible to reach a conclusion.[7] According to the second,
every proof requires another proof, and so on to infinity, and
there is no standpoint from which to begin the reasoning.[8]
According to the third, all perceptions are relative, as the
object is colored by the condition of the judge, and the
influence of other things around it.[9] According to the fourth,
it is impossible to escape from the _regressus in infinitum_ by
making a hypothesis the starting point, as the Dogmatics attempt
to do.[10] And the fifth, or the _circulus in probando_, arises
when that which should be the proof needs to be sustained by the
thing to be proved.

[1] _Hyp._ I. 164.

[2] Diog. IX. 11, 88.

[3] Diog. IX. 11, 106.

[4] Diog. IX. 12, 115-116.

[5] Compare Natorp. _Op. cit._ p. 302.

[6] _Hyp._ I. 177.

[7] _Hyp._ I. 165.

[8] _Hyp._ I. 166.

[9] _Hyp._ I. 167.

[10] _Hyp._ I. 168.

Sextus claims that all things can be included in these Tropes,
whether sensible or intellectual.[1] For whether, as some say,
only the things of sense are true, or as others claim, only
those of the understanding, or as still others contend, some
things both of sense and understanding are true, a discord must
arise that is impossible to be judged, for it cannot be judged
by the sensible, nor by the intellectual, for the things of the
intellect themselves require a proof; accordingly, the result of
all reasoning must be either hypothetical, or fall into the
_regressus in infinitum_ or the _circulus in probando_.[2] The
reference above to some who say that only the things of sense
are true, is to Epicurus and Protagoras; to some that only the
things of thought are true, to Democritus and Plato; and to
those that claimed some of both to be true, to the Stoics and
the Peripatetics.[3] The three new Tropes added by Agrippa have
nothing to do with sense-perception, but bear entirely upon the
possibility of reasoning, as demanded by the science of logic,
in contrast to the earlier ones which related almost entirely,
with the exception of the tenth, to material objects. Sextus
claims that these five Tropes also lead to the suspension of
judgment,[4] but their logical result is rather the dogmatic
denial of all possibility of knowledge, showing as Hirzel has
well demonstrated, far more the influence of the New Academy
than the spirit of the Sceptical School.[5] It was the
standpoint of the older Sceptics, that although the search for
the truth had not yet succeeded, yet they were still seekers,
and Sextus claims to be faithful to this old aim of the
Pyrrhonists. He calls himself a seeker,[6] and in reproaching
the New Academy for affirming that knowledge is impossible,
Sextus says, "Moreover, we say that our ideas are equal as
regards trustworthiness and untrustworthiness."[7] The ten
Tropes claim to establish doubt only in regard to a knowledge of
the truth, but the five Tropes of Agrippa aim to logically prove
the impossibility of knowledge. It is very strange that Sextus
does not see this decided contrast in the attitude of the two
sets of Tropes, and expresses his approval of those of Agrippa,
and makes more frequent use of the fifth of these, [Greek: ho
diallκlos], in his subsequent reasoning than of any other
argument.[8]

[1] _Hyp._ I. 169.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 170-171.

[3] _Adv. Math._ VIII. 185-186; VIII. 56; VII. 369.

[4] _Hyp._ I. 177.

[5] Hirzel _Op. cit._ p. 131.

[6] _Hyp._ I. 3, 7.

[7] _Hyp._ I. 227.

[8] See Index of Bekker's edition of Sextus' works.

We find here in the Sceptical School, shortly after the time of
Aenesidemus, the same tendency to dogmatic teaching that--so far
as the dim and shadowy history of the last years of the New
Academy can be unravelled, and the separation of Pyrrhonism can
be understood, at the time that the Academy passed over into
eclecticism--was one of the causes of that separation.

It is true that the Tropes of Agrippa show great progress in the
development of thought. They furnish an organisation of the
School far superior to what went before, placing the reasoning
on the firm basis of the laws of logic, and simplifying the
amount of material to be used. In a certain sense Saisset is
correct in saying that Agrippa contributed more than any other
in completing the organisation of Scepticism,[1] but it is not
correct when we consider the true spirit of Scepticism with
which the Tropes of Agrippa were not in harmony. It was through
the very progress shown in the production of these Tropes that
the school finally lost the strength of its position.

Not content with having reduced the number of the Tropes from
ten to five, others tried to limit the number still further to
two.[2] Sextus gives us no hint of the authorship of the two
Tropes. Ritter attributes them to Menodotus and his followers,
and Zeller agrees with that opinion,[3] while Saisset thinks
that Agrippa was also the author of these,[4] which is a strange
theory to propound, as some of the material of the five is
repeated in the two, and the same man could certainly not appear
as an advocate of five, and at the same time of two Tropes.

[1] Saisset _Op. cit._ p. 237.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 178.

[3] Zeller III. 38; Ritter IV. 277.

[4] Saisset _Op. cit._ p. 231.

The two Tropes are founded on the principle that anything must
be known through itself or through something else. It cannot be
known through itself, because of the discord existing between
all things of the senses and intellect, nor can it be known
through something else, as then either the _regressus in
infinitum_ or the _circulus in probando_ follow.[1] Diogenes
Laertius does not refer to these two Tropes.

In regard to all these Tropes of the suspension of judgment,
Sextus has well remarked in his introduction to them, that they
are included in the eighth, or that of relation.[2]

[1] _Hyp._ I. 178-179.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 39.

_The Tropes of Aetiology_. The eight Tropes against causality
belong chronologically before the five Tropes of Agrippa, in the
history of the development of sceptical thought. They have a
much closer connection with the spirit of Scepticism than the
Tropes of Agrippa, including, as they do, the fundamental
thought of Pyrrhonism, _i.e._, that the phenomena do not reveal
the unknown.

The Sceptics did not deny the phenomena, but they denied that
the phenomena are signs capable of being interpreted, or of
revealing the reality of causes. It is impossible by a research
of the signs to find out the unknown, or the explanation of
things, as the Stoics and Epicureans claim. The theory of
Aenesidemus which lies at the foundation of his eight Tropes
against aetiology, is given to us by Photius as follows:[1]
"There are no visible signs of the unknown, and those who
believe in its existence are the victims of a vain illusion."
This statement of Aenesidemus is confirmed by a fuller
explanation of it given later on by Sextus.[2] If phenomena are
not signs of the unknown there is no causality, and a refutation
of causality is a proof of the impossibility of science, as all
science is the science of causes, the power of studying causes
from effects, or as Sextus calls them, phenomena.

It is very noticeable to any one who reads the refutation of
causality by Aenesidemus, as given by Sextus,[3] that there is
no reference to the strongest argument of modern Scepticism,
since the time of Hume, against causality, namely that the
origin of the idea of causality cannot be so accounted for as to
justify our relying upon it as a form of cognition.[4]

[1] _Myriob._ 170 B. 12.

[2] _Adv. Math._ VIII. 207.

[3] _Hyp._ I. 180-186.

[4] Ueberweg _Op. cit._ p. 217.

The eight Tropes are directed against the possibility of
knowledge of nature, which Aenesidemus contested against in all
his Tropes, the ten as well as the eight.[1] They are written
from a materialistic standpoint. These Tropes are given with
illustrations by Fabricius as follows:

I. Since aetiology in general refers to things that are unseen,
it does not give testimony that is incontestable in regard to
phenomena. For example, the Pythagoreans explain the distance of
the planets by a musical proportion.

II. From many equally plausible reasons which might be given for
the same thing, one only is arbitrarily chosen, as some explain
the inundation of the Nile by a fall of snow at its source,
while there could be other causes, as rain, or wind, or the
action of the sun.

III. Things take place in an orderly manner, but the causes
presented do not show any order, as for example, the motion of
the stars is explained by their mutual pressure, which does not
take into account the order that reigns among them.

IV. The unseen things are supposed to take place in the same way
as phenomena, as vision is explained in the same way as the
appearance of images in a dark room.

V. Most philosophers present theories of aetiology which agree
with their own individual hypotheses about the elements, but not
with common and accepted ideas, as to explain the world by atoms
like Epicurus, by homoeomeriae like Anaxagoras, or by matter and
form like Aristotle.

VI. Theories are accepted which agree with individual
hypotheses, and others equally probable are passed by, as
Aristotle's explanation of comets, that they are a collection of
vapors near the earth, because that coincided with his theory of
the universe.

VII. Theories of aetiology are presented which conflict not only
with individual hypotheses, but also with phenomena, as to admit
like Epicurus an inclination or desire of the soul, which was
incompatible with the necessity which he advocated.

VIII. The inscrutable is explained by things equally
inscrutable, as the rising of sap in plants is explained by the
attraction of a sponge for water, a fact contested by some.[2]

[1] _Hyp._ I. 98.

[2] _Hyp._ I. 180-186; Fabricius, Cap. XVII. 180 z.

Diogenes does not mention these Tropes in this form, but he
gives a _resumι_ of the general arguments of the Sceptics
against aetiology,[1] which has less in common with the eight
Tropes of Aenesidemus, than with the presentation of the subject
by Sextus later,[2] when he multiplies his proofs exceedingly to
show [Greek: mκden einai aition]. Although the Tropes of
Aenesidemus have a dialectic rather than an objective character,
it would not seem that he made the distinction, which is so
prominent with Sextus, between the signs [Greek: hypomnκstika]
and [Greek: endeiktika],[3] especially as Diogenes sums up his
argument on the subject with the general assertion, [Greek:
Sκmeion ouk einai],[4] and proceeds to introduce the logical
consequence of the denial of aetiology. The summing up of the
Tropes of Aenesidemus is given as follows, in the _Hypotyposes_,
by Sextus:--"A cause in harmony with all the sects of
philosophy, and with Scepticism, and with phenomena, is perhaps
not possible, for the phenomena and the unknown altogether
disagree."[5]

It is interesting to remark in connection with the seventh of
these Tropes, that Aenesidemus asserts that causality has only a
subjective value, which from his materialistic standpoint was an
argument against its real existence, and the same argument is
used by Kant to prove that causality is a necessary condition of
thought.[6]

Chaignet characterises the Tropes of Aenesidemus as false and
sophistical,[7] but as Maccoll has well said, they are
remarkable for their judicious and strong criticism, and are
directed against the false method of observing facts through the
light of preconceived opinion.[8] They have, however, a stronger
critical side than sceptical, and show the positive tendency of
the thought of Aenesidemus.

[1] Diog. IX. 11, 96-98.

[2] _Hyp._ III. 24-28.

[3] _Adv. Math._ VIII. 151.

[4] Diog. IX. 11, 96.

[5] _Hyp._ I. 185.

[6] Compare Maccoll _Op. cit._ p. 77.

[7] Chaignet _Op. cit._ 507.

[8] Maccoll _Op. cit._ p. 88.