Mary Mills Patrick - Sextus Empiricus and Greek Scepticism
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Mary Mills Patrick >> Sextus Empiricus and Greek Scepticism
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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 _resume_ 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: meden 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: hypomnestika]
and [Greek: endeiktika],[3] especially as Diogenes sums up his
argument on the subject with the general assertion, [Greek:
Semeion 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.
CHAPTER IV.
_Aenesidemus and the Philosophy of Heraclitus._
A paragraph in the First Book of the _Hypotyposes_ which has
given rise to much speculation and many different theories, is
the comparison which Sextus makes of Scepticism with the
philosophy of Heraclitus.[1] In this paragraph the statement is
made that Aenesidemus and his followers, [Greek: hoi peri ton
Ainesidemon], said that Scepticism is the path to the philosophy
of Heraclitus, because the doctrine that contradictory
predicates appear to be applicable to the same thing, leads the
way to the one that contradictory predicates are in reality
applicable to the same thing.[2] [Greek: hoi peri ton
Ainesidemon elegon hodon einai ten skeptiken agogen epi ten
Herakleiteion philosophian, dioti proegeitai tou tanantia peri
to auto hyparchein to tanantia peri to auto phainesthai]. As the
Sceptics say that contradictory predicates appear to be
applicable to the same thing, the Heraclitans come from this to
the more positive doctrine that they are in reality so.[3]
[1] _Hyp._ I. 210.
[2] _Hyp._ I. 210.
[3] _Hyp._ I. 210.
This connection which Aenesidemus is said to have affirmed
between Scepticism and the philosophy of Heraclitus is earnestly
combated by Sextus, who declares that the fact that
contradictory predicates appear to be applicable to the same
thing is not a dogma of the Sceptics, but a fact which presents
itself to all men, and not to the Sceptics only. No one for
instance, whether he be a Sceptic or not, would dare to say that
honey does not taste sweet to those in health, and bitter to
those who have the jaundice, so that Heraclitus begins from a
preconception common to all men, as to us also, and perhaps to
the other schools of philosophy as well.[1] As the statement
concerning the appearance of contradictory predicates in regard
to the same thing is not an exclusively sceptical one, then
Scepticism is no more a path to the philosophy of Heraclitus
than to other schools of philosophy, or to life, as all use
common subject matter. "But we are afraid that the Sceptical
School not only does not help towards the knowledge of the
philosophy of Heraclitus, but even hinders that result. Since
the Sceptic accuses Heraclitus of having rashly dogmatised,
presenting on the one hand the doctrine of 'conflagration' and
on the other that 'contradictory predicates are in reality
applicable to the same thing.'"[2] "It is absurd, then, to say
that this conflicting school is a path to the sect with which it
conflicts. It is therefore absurd to say that the Sceptical
School is a path to the philosophy of Heraclitus."[3]
[1] _Hyp._ I. 211.
[2] _Hyp._ I. 212.
[3] _Hyp._ I. 212.
This is not the only place in the writings of Sextus which
states that Aenesidemus at some time of his life was an advocate
of the doctrines of Heraclitus. In no instance, however, where
Sextus refers to this remarkable fact, does he offer any
explanation of it, or express any bitterness against
Aenesidemus, whom he always speaks of with respect as a leader
of the Sceptical School. We are thus furnished with one of the
most difficult problems of ancient Scepticism, the problem of
reconciling the apparent advocacy of Aenesidemus of the
teachings of Heraclitus with his position in the Sceptical
School.
A comparison with each other of the references made by Sextus
and other writers to the teachings of Aenesidemus, and a
consideration of the result, gives us two pictures of
Aenesidemus which conflict most decidedly with each other. We
have on the one hand, the man who was the first to give
Pyrrhonism a position as an influential school, and the first to
collect and present to the world the results of preceding
Sceptical thought. He was the compiler of the ten Tropes of
[Greek: epoche], and perhaps in part their author, and the
author of the eight Tropes against aetiology.[1] He develops his
Scepticism from the standpoint that neither the senses nor the
intellect can give us any certain knowledge of reality.[2] He
denied the possibility of studying phenomena as signs of the
unknown.[3] He denied all possibility of truth, and the reality
of motion, origin and decay. There was according to his teaching
no pleasure or happiness, and no wisdom or supreme good. He
denied the possibility of finding out the nature of things, or
of proving the existence of the gods, and finally he declared
that no ethical aim is possible.
[1] _Hyp._ I. 180.
[2] Photius 170, B. 12.
[3] _Adv. Math._ VIII. 40.
The picture on the other hand, presented to us by Sextus and
Tertullian, is that of a man with a system of beliefs and
dogmas, which lead, he says, to the philosophy of Heraclitus. In
strange contradiction to his assertion of the impossibility of
all knowledge, he advocates a theory that the original substance
is air,[1] which is most certainly a dogma, although indeed a
deviation from the teachings of Heraclitus, of which Sextus
seemed unconscious, as he says, [Greek: to te on kata ton
Herakleiton aer estin, hos physin ho Ainesidemos]. Aenesidemus
dogmatised also regarding number and time and unity of the
original world-stuff.[2] He seems to have dogmatised further
about motion,[3] and about the soul.[4]
If Sextus' language is taken according to its apparent meaning,
we find ourselves here in the presence of a system of beliefs
which would be naturally held by a follower of the
Stoic-Heraclitan physics,[5] and absolutely inexplicable from
the standpoint of a man who advocated so radical a Scepticism as
Aenesidemus. Sextus in the passage that we first quoted,[6]
expresses great indignation against the idea that Scepticism
could form the path to the philosophy of Heraclitus, but he does
not express surprise or indignation against Aenesidemus
personally, or offer any explanation of the apparent
contradiction; and while his writings abound in references to
him as a respected leader of the Sceptical School, he sometimes
seems to include him with the Dogmatics, mentioning him with the
[Greek: dogmatikon philosophon].[7] In fact, the task of
presenting any consistent history of the development of thought
through which Aenesidemus passed is such a puzzling one, that
Brochard brilliantly remarks that possibly the best attitude to
take towards it would be to follow the advice of Aenesidemus
himself, and suspend one's judgment altogether regarding it. Is
it possible to suppose that so sharp and subtle a thinker as
Aenesidemus held at the same time such opposing opinions?
[1] _Adv. Math._ X. 233.
[2] _Adv. Math._ IX. 337; X. 216.
[3] _Adv. Math._ X. 38.
[4] _Adv. Math._ VII. 349.
[5] Compare Zeller _Op. cit._ III. p. 33.
[6] _Hyp._ I. 210-212.
[7] _Adv. Math._ VIII. 8; X. 215.
The conjecture that he was first a Heraclitan Stoic, and later a
Sceptic, which might be possible, does not offer any explanation
of Sextus' statement, that he regarded Scepticism as a path to
the philosophy of Heraclitus. Nor would it be logical to think
that after establishing the Sceptical School in renewed
influence and power, he reverted to the Heraclitan theories as
they were modified by the Stoics. These same theories were the
cause of his separation from the Academy, for his chief
accusation against the Academy was that it was adopting the
dogmatism of the Stoics.[1] The matter is complicated by the
fact that Tertullian also attributes to Aenesidemus
anthropological and physical teachings that agree with the
Stoical Heraclitan doctrines. It is not strange that in view of
these contradictory assertions in regard to the same man, some
have suggested the possibility that they referred to two
different men of the same name, a supposition, however, that no
one has been able to authoritatively vindicate.
Let us consider briefly some of the explanations which have been
attempted of the apparent heresy of Aenesidemus towards the
Sceptical School. We will begin with the most ingenious, that of
Pappenheim.[2]
Pappenheim claims that Sextus was not referring to Aenesidemus
himself in these statements which he joins with his name. In the
most important of these, the one quoted from the
_Hypotyposes_,[3] which represents Aenesidemus as claiming that
Scepticism is the path to the philosophy of Heraclitus, the
expression used is [Greek: hoi peri ton Ainesidemon], and in
many of the other places where Sextus refers to the dogmatic
statements of Aenesidemus, the expression is either [Greek: hoi
peri ton Ainesidemon], or [Greek: Ainesidemos kath'
Herakleiton], while when Sextus quotes Aenesidemus to sustain
Scepticism, he uses his name alone.
[1] Compare Zeller _Op. cit._ III. p. 16.
[2] _Die angebliche Heraclitismus des Skeptikers
Ainesidemos_, Berlin 1889.
[3] _Hyp._ I. 210-212.
Pappenheim thinks that Sextus' conflict was not with the dead
Aenesidemus, who had lived two centuries before him, but with
his own contemporaries. He also seeks to prove that Sextus could
not have gained his knowledge of these sayings of Aenesidemus
from any of Aenesidemus' own writings, as neither by the
ancients, nor by later writers, was any book spoken of which
could well have contained them. Neither Aristocles nor Diogenes
mentions any such book.
Pappenheim also makes much of the argument that Sextus in no
instance seems conscious of inconsistency on the part of
Aenesidemus, even when most earnestly combating his alleged
teachings, but in referring to him personally he always speaks
of him with great respect.
Pappenheim suggests, accordingly, that the polemic of Sextus was
against contemporaries, those who accepted the philosophy of
Heraclitus in consequence of, or in some connection with, the
teachings of Aenesidemus. He entirely ignores the fact that
there is no trace of any such school or sect in history, calling
themselves followers of "Aenesidemus according to Heraclitus,"
but still thinks it possible that such a movement existed in
Alexandria at the time of Sextus, where so many different sects
were found. Sextus use Aenesidemus' name in four different
ways:--alone, [Greek: hoi peri ton Ainesidemon], [Greek:
Ainesidemos kath' Herakleiton], and in one instance [Greek: hoi
peri ton Ainesidemon kath' Herakleiton].[1]
[1] _Adv. Math._ VIII. 8.
Pappenheim advances the theory that some of these contemporaries
against whom Sextus directed his arguments had written a book
entitled [Greek: Ainesidemos kath' Herakleiton], to prove the
harmony between Aenesidemus and Heraclitus, and that it was from
this book that Sextus quoted the dogmatic statements which he
introduced with that formula. He claims, further, that the
passage quoted from _Hypotyposes I._ even, is directed
against contemporaries, who founded their system of proofs of
the harmony between Aenesidemus and Heraclitus on the connection
of the celebrated formula which was such a favourite with the
Sceptics: "Contrary predicates appear to apply to the same
thing," with the apparent deduction from this, that "Contrary
predicates in reality apply to the same thing." Sextus wishes,
according to Pappenheim, to prove to these contemporaries that
they had misunderstood Aenesidemus, and Sextus does not report
Aenesidemus to be a Dogmatic, nor to have taught the doctrines
of Heraclitus; neither has he misunderstood Aenesidemus, nor
consequently misrepresented him; but on the contrary, these
dogmatic quotations have nothing to do with Aenesidemus, but
refer altogether to contemporaries who pretended to be Sceptics
while they accepted the teachings of Heraclitus. Sextus
naturally warmly combats this tendency, as he wishes to preserve
Pyrrhonism pure.
Brochard advocates a change of opinion on the part of
Aenesidemus as an explanation of the difficulty in question.[1]
He starts from the supposition, the reasonableness of which we
shall consider later, that Aenesidemus had passed through one
change of opinion already when he severed his connection with
the New Academy; and to the two phases of his life, which such a
change has already made us familiar with, he adds a third.
Aenesidemus would not be the first who has accepted different
beliefs at different periods of his life, and Brochard claims
that such a development in the opinions of Aenesidemus is
logical. He does not accuse Aenesidemus of having, as might seem
from the perusal of Sextus, suddenly changed his basis, but
rather of having gradually come to accept much in the teachings
of Heraclitus. Aenesidemus modifies his Scepticism only to the
extent of pretending to know something of absolute reality. The
Sceptic says, "Contradictory predicates are apparently
applicable to the same thing," and Aenesidemus accepts the
Heraclitan result--"Contradictory predicates are in reality
applicable to the same thing." From Sextus' report, Aenesidemus
would seem to have renounced his position as a Sceptic in saying
that Scepticism is the path to the philosophy of Heraclitus. He
does not, however, renounce Scepticism, but he finds it
incomplete. In deliberating concerning the appearance of
contradictory predicates in regard to the same object, he would
naturally ask, "Whence come these contradictory appearances?"
After having doubted all things, he wished to know wherefore he
doubts. The system of Heraclitus offers a solution, and he
accepts it. Contradictory predicates produce equilibrium in the
soul because they are an expression of reality.
[1] Brochard _Op. cit._ 272.
As a Sceptic he claims that knowledge is impossible, and he does
not find that the statement of Heraclitus disproves this, but
rather that it supports his theory. He had denied the existence
of science. He still does so, but now he knows why he denies it.
Brochard asks why it is any more impossible that Aenesidemus
should have been a follower of Heraclitus than that Protagoras
was so, as Protagoras was after all a Sceptic. In conclusion,
Brochard claims that the dogmatic theories attributed to
Aenesidemus relate to the doctrine of the truth of contradictory
predicates, which seemed to him a logical explanation of the
foundation theories of Scepticism. It is right to call him a
Sceptic, for he was so, and that sincerely; and he deserves his
rank as one of the chiefs of the Sceptical School.
Coming now to the opinion of Zeller,[1] we find that he
advocates a misconception of Aenesidemus on the part of Sextus.
The whole difficulty is removed, Zeller thinks, by the simple
fact that Sextus had not understood Aenesidemus; and as
Tertullian and Sextus agree in this misconception of the views
of Aenesidemus, they must have been misled by consulting a
common author in regard to Aenesidemus, who confused what
Aenesidemus said of Heraclitus with his own opinion. Zeller
maintains that the expression so often repeated by
Sextus--[Greek: Ainesidemos kath' Herakleiton]--shows that some
one of Aenesidemus' books contained a report of Heraclitus'
doctrines, as Aenesidemus was in the habit of quoting as many
authorities as possible to sustain his Scepticism. To justify
his quotations from Heraclitus, he had possibly given a short
abstract of Heraclitus' teachings; and the misconception
advocated by Zeller and found both in Tertullian and Sextus,
refers rather to the spirit than to the words quoted from
Aenesidemus, and is a misconception due to some earlier author,
who had given a false impression of the meaning of Aenesidemus
in quoting what Aenesidemus wrote about Heraclitus. That is to
say, Heraclitus was classed by Aenesidemus only among those who
prepared the way for Scepticism, just as Diogenes[2] mentions
many philosophers in that way; and that Soranus[3] and Sextus
both had the same misunderstanding can only be explained by a
mistake on the part of the authority whom they consulted.
[1] Zeller _Op. cit._ III, pp. 31-35; _Grundriss der
Geschichte der Griechischen Phil._ p. 263.
[2] Diog. Laert. IX. 11, 71-74.
[3] Tertullian.
This explanation, however, makes Sextus a very stupid man.
Aenesidemus' books were well known, and Sextus would most
certainly take the trouble to read them. His reputation as an
historian would not sustain such an accusation, as Diogenes
calls his books [Greek: ta deka ton skeptikon kai alla
kallista].[1] Furthermore, that Sextus used Aenesidemus' own
books we know from the direct quotation from them in regard to
Plato,[2] which he combines with the ideas of Menodotus[3] and
his own.
[1] Diog. IX. 12, 116.
[2] _Hyp._ I. 222.
[3] Following the Greek of Bekker.
Sextus' references to Aenesidemus in connection with Heraclitus
are very numerous, and it is absurd to suppose that he would
have trusted entirely to some one who reported him for authority
on such a subject. Even were it possible that Sextus did not
refer directly to the works of Aenesidemus, which we do not
admit, even then, there had been many writers in the Sceptical
School since the time of Aenesidemus, and they certainly could
not all have misrepresented him. We must remember that Sextus
was at the head of the School, and had access to all of its
literature. His honor would not allow of such a mistake, and if
he had indeed made it, his contemporaries must surely have
discovered it before Diogenes characterised his books as [Greek:
kallista]. Whatever may be said against the accuracy of Sextus
as a general historian of philosophy, especially in regard to
the older schools, he cannot certainly be accused of ignorance
respecting the school of which he was at that time the head.
The opinion of Ritter on this subject is that Aenesidemus must
have been a Dogmatic.[1] Saisset contends[2] that Aenesidemus
really passed from the philosophy of Heraclitus to that of
Pyrrho, and made the statement that Scepticism is the path to
the philosophy of Heraclitus to defend his change of view,
although in his case the change had been just the opposite to
the one he defends. Saisset propounds as a law in the history of
philosophy a fact which he claims to be true, that Scepticism
always follows sensationalism, for which he gives two examples,
Pyrrho, who was first a disciple of Democritus, and Hume, who
was a disciple of Locke It is not necessary to discuss the
absurdity of such a law, which someone has well remarked would
involve an _a priori_ construction of history. There is no
apparent reason for Saisset's conjecture in regard to
Aenesidemus, for it is exactly the opposite of what Sextus has
reported. Strange to say, Saisset himself remarks in another
place that we owe religious respect to any text, and that it
should be the first law of criticism to render this.[3] Such
respect to the text of Sextus, as he himself advocates, puts
Saisset's explanation of the subject under discussion out of the
question.
[1] Ritter, _Op. cit._ p. 280. Book IV.
[2] Saisset, _Op. cit._ p. 206.
[3] Saisset _Op. cit._ p. 206.
Hirzel and Natorp do not find such a marked contradiction in the
two views presented of the theories of Aenesidemus, nor do they
think that Sextus has misrepresented them. They rather maintain,
that in declaring the coexistence of contradictory predicates
regarding the same object, Aenesidemus does not cease to be a
Sceptic, for he did not believe that the predicates are
applicable in a dogmatic sense of the word, but are only
applicable in appearance, that is, applicable to phenomena. The
Heraclitism of Aenesidemus would be then only in appearance, as
he understood the statement, that "Contradictory predicates are
in reality applicable to the same thing," only in the phenomenal
sense.[1] Hirzel says in addition, that contradictory predicates
are in reality applicable to those phenomena which are the same
for all, and consequently true, for Aenesidemus considered those
phenomena true that are the same for all.[2] As Protagoras, the
disciple of Heraclitus, declared the relative character of
sensations, that things exist only for us, and that their nature
depends on our perception of them; so, in the phenomenal sense,
Aenesidemus accepts the apparent fact that contradictory
predicates in reality apply to the same thing.
[1] Natorp _Op. cit._ 115, 122.
[2] _Adv. Math._ VIII. 8; Hirzel _Op. cit._ p. 95.
This explanation entirely overlooks the fact that we have to do
with the word [Greek: huparchein], in the statement that
contradictory predicates in reality apply to the same thing;
while in the passage quoted where Aenesidemus declares common
phenomena to be true ones, we have the word [Greek: alethe], so
that this explanation of the difficulty would advocate a very
strange use of the word [Greek: huparchein].
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