Greek Scepticism: Anti-Realist Trends in Ancient Thought

Alan D. Booth is an associate professor of Classics at Brock University
in St. Catharines.

Ancient Greek thinkers exercised their intellects to identify the best
life and to formulate principles that would permit human beings to live
in the best possible manner. They sought, through the human capacity for
sophisticated reasoning, to resolve essential questions for which
religions supply simplistic answers in the guise of divine revelations.
Human perception, knowledge and judgment have, however, evident
limitations. So, just like religions, the systems developed by the
ancient Greeks usually require a leap of faith, an acceptance of tenets
that defy absolute proof. Modern philosophers still wrestle with the
problems posed by human limitations. If these problems are irresoluble
and the religious escape is rejected, then any system elaborated by
human beings must rest on suspect dogmatism. This realization should
commend that judgment be reserved in the face of conflicting dogmas. In
turn, the position of the ancient sceptics, who advocated such
suspension of judgment, should appear perfectly reasonable—the more so
since, on the positive side, they devised a system that permitted people
to live with increased comfort in the world of accepted custom and
convention. Yet the sceptics’ philosophy has been grossly
misunderstood and unfairly denigrated. This injustice is now castigated
by the enthusiastic defence offered here by Groarke, who finds “that
ancient scepticism offers a plausible alternative to modern and
contemporary outlooks.”