Online research in philosophy

Pyrrhonism: How the Ancient Greeks Reinvented Buddhism, by Adrian Kuzminski, is a short monograph of four chapters in which the author argues that Pyrrho of Elis (ca. 365–270 b.c.e.) developed his form of skepticism after coming into contact with Indian philosophers on his journey with Alexander the Great. Although the subtitle suggests that the primary focus of the study will be to develop this argument for historical diffusion, the book is more of an apology for Pyrrhonism, which Kuzminski thinks can be better understood by emphasizing its striking similarities with Buddhism. While presenting a plausible scenario for historical diffusion, he emphasizes parallels specifically with the Mādhyamaka school of ..

I. This paper concerns a surprisingly sharp disagreement about the nature of ancient Pyrrhonism which first emerges clearly in Kant and Hegel, but which continues in contemporary interpretations.1 The paper begins by explaining the character of this disagreement, then attempts to adjudicate it in the light of the ancient texts.

Adrian Kuzminski’s book is a work of comparative philosophy. It examines Pyrrhonism in terms of its connection and similarity to some Eastern non-dogmatic soteriological traditions, in particular, to Madhyamaka Buddhism. An important part of the author’s objective is to examine the historical evidence supporting Pyrrhonism’s origins in Indian Buddhism and to gain a more nuanced understanding of both these philosophical and religious traditions.

I air three kinds of problem to which Sinnott-Armstrong's epistemological contrastivism seems to be exposed: (a) the theory gives an unplausible account of justification attributions; (b) the Pyrrhonism which results from its inability to identify relevant contrast classes bars us from epistemic responsibility; (c) contextualism does just as well as Pyrrhonism, despite Sinnott-Armstrong's arguments to the contrary.

An often overlooked figure today, Aristocles of Messene remains an important source for understanding the philosophical thought of early Pyrrhonism. In this book Dr. Chiesara shows Aristocles to be an accurate historian and trustworthy reporter of the major trends of first century philosophical thought including Platonism, Stoicism, Pyrrhonism, Protagorism, and Epicurism, and to offer precious additions to the history of ancient philosophy, in particular to the reconstruction not only of early but also of late, namely Aenesidemean, Pyrrhonism.

A study of Pyrrhonean skepticism, this book includes a new translation of Sextus Empiricus's Outlines of Pyrrhonism, accompanied by an analytic introduction and an in-depth, section-by-section commentary. It presents Pyrrhonism as a marked influence on the philosophical theories of Montaigne, Gassendi, Descartes, Bayle and other major thinkers, and discusses specific features of this form of skepticism which make it immune to many of the standard criticisms.