“By contrast, the sceptic is simply sceptical about the possibility of belief as such. Their counsel is to look at both sides of an issue and practise a suspension of judgement, or what was called an epoché, in all matters. In Philo's words, 'There is nothing firm we can say about anything.' The sceptic neither declines nor chooses, but simply suspends judgement and practises silence or aphasia. Thus, the sceptic refuses to either assert or deny that there is life after death, whether the soul is separate from the body or whether there is a heaven or a hell. In neither asserting nor denying anything, one lives in a tranquillity that is open to all forms of inquiry and an utter stranger to any species of dogmatism. Appropriately enough, it is not known how Pyrrho died, although it would be taking his scepticism too far to deny that it occurred.”
Tagged: Openness, Scepticism

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