Position

Pyrrhonian Suspension

For every claim an equally strong opposing claim can be found, so one should suspend judgment (epoché) on all matters beyond how things appear.

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Classification

Position level
specific
Domains
Epistemology

Overview

The Pyrrhonist does not assert that nothing can be known — that would itself be a dogmatic claim. Instead, finding the case for and against every thesis evenly balanced, they withhold assent and report only how things appear. The tranquility (ataraxia) that dogmatists sought through doctrine is said to follow, unexpectedly, from giving up the search for doctrine.

Position on

  • The Possibility of Knowledge

    On whether we can know anything: because the arguments on any question of fact turn out to have equal force (isostheneia), assent is never warranted, so the skeptic suspends judgment and lives by appearances without holding beliefs about how things really are.

Held by traditions

  • Pyrrhonism

    Question scope: The Possibility of Knowledge

Broader position

Incompatible positions

References