Class Synopsis—Friday, March 18

After taking our quiz, we reviewed the 10 modes of skepticism:
1. based on the variety in animals;
2. on the differences in human beings;
3. on the different structures of the organs of sense;
4. on the circumstantial conditions;
5. on positions and intervals and locations;
6. on intermixtures;
7. on the quantities and formations of the underlying objects;
8. on the fact of relativity;
9. on the frequency or rarity of occurrence;
10. on the disciplines and customs and laws, the legendary beliefs and the dogmatic convictions.

Or, in Dr. Layne’s “catchy” acronym: A SIC A QuPREC (Dr. Layne narrates "It kinda ryhmes and reminds me of something a character in Alice in Wonderland might say. Imagine Humpty Dumpty getting annoyed and instead of telling her 'Ah I am sick of pricks.' He says A SIC A QuPREC which ultimately just means I have ten ways of refuting pricks")
A nimals, humans

S ense Organs
I nterval, place, position
C ircumstance

A dmixture
Qu antities
P roportions
R elativity
E vents (Rare or Frequent)
C ustoms, dogmas, laws

These modes each constitute a reason why our perception/judgments are distorted and unreliable.
We then discussed Pyrro of Elis, and how he was influenced by Democritus, whose atomistic views suggested that since the senses are unreliable, reality was unknowable. Much of what we know of Pyrro comes from Timon, who suggests 3 questions:
1) What are objects like by nature?
2) What attitude should we then have?
3) What results from this attitude?

With corresponding answers:
1) Things are indifferent and cannot be judged.
2) So our perceptions/beliefs are not t/f—no trust in them—and they must remain without belief.
3) Speechlessness and ataraxia.

Pyrro: “No more this than that”
“Both is and is not”

Academic Skepticism was led by Arcesilaus (315-240), who became the head of the academy. He attempted to relate skepticism back to Plato and Socrates to avoid being overly controversial, but he basically taught Pyrronian skepticism. He advocated not advocating anything; he asserted that one should not make assertions; he preferred to not have preferences; he didn’t "know that he does not know." He also rejected that Truth was attainable and believed it was irrelevant to morality.
The third academy was led by Carneads (214-129), who believed that he could not know anything, yet accepted probability as good substitute for absolute knowledge. He was fervently anti-stoic, being a radical skeptic, and he formulated a criteria for living.