Aenesidemus
, of Cnossus, Sceptic philosopher
Aenesidemus
, of Cnossus, Sceptic philosopher
- Gisela Striker
Extract
Aenesidemus of Cnossus, sceptical philosopher, revived Pyrrhonism (see pyrrhon) in the 1st cent. bce, probably as a reaction to the decline of scepticism in the Academy under *Philon (3) of Larissa. He taught at some point in *Alexandria (1). His works are lost, but versions of his ‘Modes of Inducing Suspension of Judgement’ (Τρόποιτῆςἐποχῆς) are preserved by Philon (4) Judaeus, Diogenes Laertius, and Sextus Empiricus. Photius (Bibl. cod. 212) has a summary of his Πυρρώνειοιλόγοι (‘Pyrrhonian Arguments’) in eight books, dedicated to L. *Aelius Tubero, an Academic and friend of Cicero. Sextus also ascribes to Aenesidemus a set of modes of argument against causal explanation.
Subjects
- Philosophy
