Title: The problem of truth, happiness and self-refutation in the philosophical viewpoint of the world by Pyrrho of Elis
Variant title:
- Problém pravdy, blaženosti a sebavyvrátenia vo filozofickom pohľade na svet u Pyrrhóna z Elidy
Source document: Studia philosophica. 2019, vol. 66, iss. 1, pp. 9-26
Extent
9-26
-
ISSN1803-7445 (print)2336-453X (online)
Persistent identifier (DOI): https://doi.org/10.5817/SPh2019-1-2
Stable URL (handle): https://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/141373
Type: Article
Language
License: Not specified license
Notice: These citations are automatically created and might not follow citation rules properly.
Abstract(s)
This paper attempts to explore the concept of truth, human happiness and the related problem of self-refutation in the philosophical viewpoint of the world by Pyrrho of Elis. I argue that according to the so-called metaphysical interpretation of Pyrrho, the reason for our radical incompetence when it comes to knowledge is not our cognitive inability to grasp the truth, but rather the very nature of things of the world. I provide an alternative philosophical interpretation which is based on a philological conjecture in the preserved textual source. I then point out a surprising connection between this radical attitude and the achievement of human happiness, which constitutes the ultimate goal of Pyrrho's philosophy. Finally, I present a possible solution to the problem of self-refutation, which is in a sense a challenge for radical Pyrrhonian agnosticism. By this paper, I endeavour to show how bizarre could be the image of the world viewed by the prism of radical skepticism of the early Pyrrhonism. Nevertheless, it is a world, wherein the philosopher vindicates his/her eudaimonia and defends the logical consistency of one's own claims.
Štúdia sa snaží vysvetliť pojem pravdy, ľudského šťastia, a súvisiaci problém sebavyvrátenia vo filozofickom pohľade na svet u Pyrrhóna z Elidy. Snažíme sa dokázať, že v duchu tzv. metafyzickej interpretácie tohto filozofa dôvodom našej totálnej poznávacej inkompetencie nie je neschopnosť našich kognitívnych mohutností uchopiť pravdu, ale sama povaha vecí sveta. Naznačujeme alternatívnu filozofickú interpretáciu, ktorá sa zakladá na filologickej konjektúre zachovaného textu. Následne poukazujeme na prekvapivé prepojenie medzi týmto radikálnym skeptickým postojom a dosahovaním ľudskej blaženosti, ktorá konštituuje posledný cieľ Pyrrhónovej filozofie. Napokon predstavujeme pozitívne riešenie problému sebavyvrátenia, ktoré je v istom zmysle oslabením radikálneho Pyrrhónovho agnosticizmu. Predkladanou štúdiou sa snažíme ukázať, aký bizarný môže byť obraz sveta nazeraného cez prizmu radikálneho skepticizmu raného pyrrhonizmu. Napriek tomu je to svet, v ktorom filozof zdôvodňuje svoju blaženosť a bráni logickú konzistentnosť vlastných tvrdení.
Note
This publication was made possible through the support of the grant project APVV-18-0103 Paradigmatic changes in the understanding of Universe and Man from philosophical, theological, and physical perspectives.
References
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[2] ATHENAEUS. Deipnosophistae. 3 vols. Edited G. Kaibel. Leipzig: Teubner 1887 (repr. 1966).
[3] BECKWITH, Christopher. Greek Buddha. Pyrrho's Encounter with Early Buddhism in Central Asia. Princeton: Princeton University Press 2015.
[4] BETT, Richard. Pyrrho, His Antecedents, and His Legacy. Oxford: Oxford University Press 2000.
[5] BRENNAN, Tad. Pyrrho on the Criterion. Ancient Philosophy. 1998, 18(2), pp. 417–433.
[6] BROCHARD, Victor. Les Sceptiques grecs. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale 1887.
[7] BRUNSCHWIG, Jacques. Introduction: the Beginnings of Hellenistic Epistemology. In ALGRA, Keimpe – MANSFELD, Jaap – SCHOFIELD, Malcolm (eds.). The Cambridge History of Hellenistic Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1999, pp. 220–259.
[8] BURNYEAT, Myles Fredric. Tranquillity without a Stop: Timon, frag. 68. The Classical Quarterly. 1980, XXX (1), pp. 86–93. | DOI 10.1017/S0009838800041215
[9] CAIZZI, Decleva Fernanda. Pirrone. Testimonianze. Napoli: Bibliopolis 1981.
[10] CAMPBELL, Lewis. V. Brochard, Les Sceptiques grecs, Paris, 1887 (review). The Classical Review. 1888, II (4), pp. 111–113.
[11] CICERO, Marcus Tullius. De finibus bonorum et malorum. In SCHICHE, Theodor (ed.). M. Tulli Ciceronis scripta quae manserunt omnia, fasc. 43. Leipzig: Teubner 1915.
[12] DIOGENES, Laertius. Vitae philosophorum. In LONG, Herbert S. (ed.). Diogenis Laertii vitae philosophorum, 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press 1964, pp. 1–565.
[13] EUSEBIUS, Caesarensis. Die Praeparatio evangelica. In MRAS, Karl (ed.). Eusebius Werke, VIII. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag 1954, pp. 3–613.
[14] FRENKIAN, Aram M. Scepticismul grec i filozofia indiana. Bucuresti: Academia Republicii Socialiste Romania 1957.
[15] FLINTOFF, Everard. Pyrrho and India. Phronesis. 1980, 25(1), pp. 88–108.
[16] GÖRLER, Woldemar. Pyrrhon aus Elis. In FLASHAR, Hellmut (ed.). Grundriss der Geschichte der Philosophie. Die Philosophie der Antike, IV: Die Hellenistische Philosohie. Basel: Schwabe 1994, pp. 732–759.
[17] HANKINSON, Robert J. The Sceptics. London: Routlege 1995.
[18] HORYNA, Břetislav. Filosofie skepse. Olomouc: Nakladatelství Olomouc 2008.
[19] KALAŠ, Andrej. Pyrrhón z Élidy alebo blažený život bez hodnôt. Bratislava: Univerzita Komenského v Bratislave 2009.
[20] KUZMINSKI, Adrian. Pyrrhonism and the Madhyamaka. Philosophy East & West. 2007, 57 (4), pp. 482–511. | DOI 10.1353/pew.2007.0052
[21] KUZMINSKI, Adrian. Pyrrhonism: how the ancient Greeks reinvented Buddhism. Lanham: Lexington Books 2008.
[22] LONG, Anthony A. Hellenistic Philosophy. London: Duckworth 1974.
[23] LONG, Anthony A. – SEDLEY, David N. The Hellenistic Philosophers, I–II. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 1987.
[24] SEXTUS, Empiricus. Adversus mathematicos. In MUTSCHMANN, Hermann – MAU, Jürgen. (eds.). Sexti Empirici opera, vols. 2, 3. Leipzig: Teubner 1961.
[25] SEXTUS, Empiricus. Pyrrhoniae hypotyposes. In MUTSCHMANN, Hermann (ed.). Sexti Empirici opera, vol. 1. Leipzig: Teubner 1912, pp. 3–209.
[26] SMYTH, Herbert W. Greek Grammar. Harvard: Messing 1957.
[27] STOPPER M., R. Schizzi Pirroniani. Phronesis. 1983, 28(3), pp. 265–297.
[28] STOUGH, Charlotte L. Greek Scepticism. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press 1969.
[29] SVAVARSSON, Svavar Hrafn. Pyrrho's Undecidable Nature. In Oxford Studies in Ancient Philosophy 2004, 27, pp. 249–295.
[30] ZELLER, Eduard. Die Philosophie der Griechen in ihrer geschichtlichen Entwicklung. Leipzig: O. R. Reisland 1922.