Part 1 (1/2)

s.e.xtus Empiricus and Greek Scepticism.

by Mary Mills Patrick.

PREFACE

The following treatise on s.e.xtus 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 s.e.xtus Empiricus with the Pyrrhonean School has also been discussed.

As the First Book of the _Hypotyposes_, or Pyrrhonic Sketches by s.e.xtus 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 s.e.xtus, 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 ma.n.u.scripts of the works of s.e.xtus. The divisions into chapters, with the headings of the chapters in the translation, is the same as Fabricius gives from the ma.n.u.scripts, 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 princ.i.p.al 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 Aenesideme-Pascal-Kant_, Paris, 1867.

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

Haas, _Leben des s.e.xtus 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, _Erlauterung zu des s.e.xtus Empiricus Pyrrhoneischen Grundzugen_, Heidelberg, 1882.

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

Pappenheim, _Lebensverhaltnisse des s.e.xtus Empiricus_, Berlin, 1887.

Pappenheim, _Der angebliche Herac.l.i.tismus des Skeptikers Ainesidemos_, Berlin, 1887.

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

Maccoll, _The Greek Sceptics from Pyrrho to s.e.xtus_, London, 1869.

My grateful acknowledgments are due to Dr. Ludwig Stein, Professor of Philosophy in the University of Bern, for valuable a.s.sistance 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.