Sextus Empiricus: Against the Logicians

Description

Sextus Empiricus' Against the Logicians is by far the most detailed surviving examination by any ancient Greek sceptic of the areas of epistemology and logic. It critically examines the pretensions of non-sceptical philosophers to have discovered methods for determining the truth, either through direct observation or by inference from the observed to the unobserved. It is therefore a fine example of the Pyrrhonist sceptical method at work. It also provides a mine of information about the ideas of other Greek thinkers, ideas that are in many cases poorly preserved in other sources. This volume presents Against the Logicians in a new and accurate translation, together with a detailed introduction that sets the work in its philosophical context.

Richard Bett is Professor of Philosophy and Classics at Johns Hopkins University.

"...this is an excellent work. It is a valuable new tool for the study both of Sextan Pyrrhonism and of the logical and epistemological doctrines expounded in AD I-II, and will no doubt become the standard English translation of these books in the years to come. Bett has proved, once again, that he is one of the leading specialists in Pyrrhonian skepticism." --Diego E. Machuca, Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas (Argentina), Bryn Mawr Classical Review