Philosophical teachings, common in the time of our era, were replete with various terms, common names and so on. Some of them have "survived" to the present and are often used in everyday life. For example, who is a skeptic, the meaning of the word “positive” and other expressions even children know. However, not everyone knows where this or that name or statement comes from. Consider what the word “skeptic” means in more detail.
Philosophical doctrine
Skepticism originated at the turn of the 4th – 3rd centuries BC. e., almost at the same time with such teachings as the Stoic school and Epicureanism.
The founder of this philosophical trend is considered to be the Greek artist Pirron, who introduced such alien elements for the Hellenistic school as a whole, such as the "position of indifference", "detachment", "the practice of non-judgment."
If we consider who a skeptic is from the point of view of that time, then we can say that this was a man who did not seek to achieve the truth of nature, did not try to know the world, but accepted things as they were. And this was the main idea of the teachings of Pirron, who occupied a leading place among the philosophers of that era.
Stages of development
The doctrine of skeptics has gone through three periods of development:
- Elder Pyronism (3rd century BC). This teaching was characterized as practical, based on "ethics". The founders are Pirron and his student Timon, whose doctrine influenced the worldview of the Stoics and epicureanism.
- Academism (3–2 centuries BC). Representatives of this branch proclaimed critical skepticism in theoretical form.
- Junior pyronism. The main philosophers of this direction are Agrippa and Enesidem, and the supporters were doctors, among whom Sext Empiricus is known. This period is characterized by a systematization of the arguments of the doctrine. Thus, the paths presented by Enesidem explain the basic principles of the impossibility of knowing everything around with the help of the senses. Later, these arguments were brought into a single position on the relativity of perception.
Basic principles of teaching
To give a full explanation of who the skeptic is, we give the following information. Representatives of this teaching did not deny the truth of this or that statement, but did not take it for truth. This applies to all areas - religion, scientific disciplines (physics, mathematics and so on), medicine and others. For example, skeptics did not deny the existence of God, but at the same time they did not take a single side, not a single opinion about the nature of the Almighty, its qualities and so on. In their opinion, that which cannot be felt or understood, cannot be judged. At the same time, what can be felt, tasted or felt by other organs cannot be unambiguously assessed, since perception is relative. Therefore, it is better to refrain from any judgments or designations, but simply accept everything as it is.
As mentioned above, this philosophical trend had many supporters in medicine. If we consider who the skeptic is in this area, we can highlight the following statement: “The doctor should not reflect on the nature of the disease, it is enough to state the fact of the disease and record the symptoms. Well-known treatment for patients also needs to be applied. ”
Therefore, we can say that a person who does not give an assessment of phenomena, things, and also does not appropriate his subjective opinion is a skeptic. Synonyms of this word are often used in our time, and their meaning with the original meaning is sometimes different. For example, a nihilist (a person who denies life), a little believer and even a pessimist.
In general, we can say that the doctrine played an important role in the general development of mankind. It allowed us to free ourselves from erroneous judgments and prohibitions imposed by religious schools.