Sceptism

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Scepticism, the idea that it may be impossible to know anything with complete certainty. Scepticism was first outlined by ancient Greek philosophers: Socrates is reported to have said that the only thing he knew for certain was that he knew nothing. Later, Scepticism was taught at the Academy founded by Plato, and learnt by students who included the Roman statesman Cicero. The central ideas of Scepticism were taken up by later philosophers and came to the fore during the Renaissance, when thinkers including Rene Descartes and Michel de Montaigne took up its challenge. A central plank of the philosophical system of David Hume, Scepticism had a powerful influence on the religious and scientific debates of the Enlightenment.

With:

Peter Millican
Professor of Philosophy at Hertford College, Oxford

Melissa Lane
Professor of Politics at Princeton University

Jill Kraye
Professor of the History of Renaissance Philosophy and Librarian at the Warburg Institute, University of London.

Producer: Thomas Morris

Denis Didarot - a thing is not prioved just because no one has ever questioned it.Something that has never been examined disppsionaltlye is not properly examined. Sceptisim is the first step towards truth
Sceptism - nothing can be known not even this.

Since the Renaissance sceptism has been important in learning.

Every day use of scepticism - someone who denies orthodox view. Someone who simply disagrees with the majority
Philosophy - more about doubt than negative asertion - questioning, investingating.
Sceptism about the exteranl world - induction  - is there a respns that the future will resemeble the past
Sceptiscims about moratlity

Not about 1 or 2 specific things - simply an attidtue of doubt towards everything

An over of the discussion - scepticism been around for a long time - in ancient world took a global form - globla form of life. By doubnting or undogmatic one could reach transquility
IN modern world it cast doubt on a lot of cntroversial things. Casting serious doubt that people were concerned about
People like Descartes and Hulme in conteporary world were a living forve because they were hard to challenge
Is there cetain knowledge? If taken seriously the scepticism shows that we can;t prove what we thought ee did
ie sciecen has a solid basis is difficult to prove.
Morality and religion - scetical worries are strong where there is real big differences of opinion
No one has good reason for what is being asserted.

Alive is the subject of scepticism

origins - in Greek the words means investigateion
A kind of midesty of what is known and a relativism
Socrates - what I do not know I do not think I know
I kow that I know nothing
True knowledge comes fromt eh limits of knwoledge

Around the world - moral and religious beliefs could simply be local applications of ideas.

Customs ad practices were a source of scepticism - from the way cultures dress being different to bigger issues.

Generalisation 5th centurey bc - thought was strongly associate with religion - the dogmas of
First big moves away from this was Spcatrtes and plato
Casting dounts on assertions - such a multi gods.
Used in a way to reatonalise not disprove

A release of thought? Freedom of thought association - expcially in later sceptics - is Siscero

3 types - the acamdemic and the pyrinist schols
traced to 30 century bc

Wise man knows the limits to his nowledge.
To have knowledge have to have a criterion of certainy - the academics challenged this saying we cannot have certain knowledge

pirinist school - readical - they held that we could be happy and tranquil without wisdom at all
suspend belief of any dogma - ie snow appears white but is it really - so suspend that judgement brings tranqulitiy

Certain knowledge - stoic claim - there has to be a crriterion - not just appearance is it really tyhe way it is in reality
We cannot have sucha  criterion - any appearance that ay seem certain is indistinguishable and we dont have this criterion

Piro - pionist school
3rd century - nothing written - legends and rumours only
anythign writtten was later in 6th century ad
Nothing was in itself good bad honourable or dishonourable - nothing was more this or that
he took this to such an extreme he would not pay any attention to anything around him
it walking by a cliff he wouldn't turn away fromt eh edge. friends kept him out of harms way.
He lived to 90
Piro was criticised for not paying more attention to his emotions or anything
Completely even demeanour
Stories he would continue talking even when someone walked away because that;'s what he was doing#
Tranquility of a pig eating - the wise man simply eats and ignores everything else

He suspended judgement in thought - but there are contradictions as to whether he really did live this way

Nieztche -

He stood for   cetrl idea - nothing is more this nor that - compltte inmdifference - leads to suspension of judgement - leads to peace of mind

Repelles - painter - painting the foam on the horse of a mouth - couldn't do it - in the end he threw a spionge and got the effect he wanted.
Hellenistic era

Plato - Sisero - from Platos school
He studied in Athens - with academic sceptics.
He writes about the philosophers ideas that were not previously written
Romans - very practical people but not very interested in philosophy
He wanted to bring philosophy to rome
He write about the epicureans
the stoics

Sexctus Empiricus - sceptic
he was anti scepticism
Important - because - 3rd and poss most important influence on works that survived to tell us about scepticism
collected all sorts of teaching of Pironist school
Outlines of Pironism

differeent arguments

a systematic collector of the different ways of arguing - the reasons for doubt
He emphasised the prolem of the criteriosn - wnat a criterion of truth but how do you know what's true.
circular problem
Accepted the philosophy of scepticism

The idea was to suspend judgement - codified a way of arguing from wither side - brings you a poistion of suspension so not arguing for against
Should not even assert that we cannot have knowedge

Augustine -?
engaes well with Sisero - a phase in his pilosophical and religious beliefs
didved the world into good and evil two forces battling it out
Maybe they are wiser to say doubt everythign and there was no certain knowledge - as per sisero
But in christian pahse argues against sisero
There are some necessary truths - I err so therefore I am - i must exist to make mistakes
preempting Descartes
I know that it feels cold - something I know
He also thinks there is a moral and religious danger to be sceptic
What about scepticism allowing immporality - others believed it would lead to paralysis but he thought it could be danger to immorality
ie it's ok to kill/murder

rediscovered in Renaissance - ;atin printing
Impact - sisero acedemico
more people reading it and copied being made
people writing commetnaries etc.
Sceptic is the translated word from Greek into latin -
Lage works -
Impericus - script circulating in 15th century
Greek a very unusual skill language to read -

Latin in 1560's - translated by a protestant - published
with the life of Piro and Laertius and Gaelen - the best method of teaching
attacking sceptcism

Sextist - wrote against everyone
he wante to show that for every argeument there is an equal force counter arguement
for every dogmatic arguement there is a valid counter - therefore suspend judgenmt as not finite answer

The context - invention of pringint - vast cicrulation  translated into latin
and also a period of doubt - population gowring - new world being discovered
suddenly aware that preioous teachings not syaing anythign about these other weorlds
so question confidence in the beliefs that have been advocated asserted
a starting point for doubt and questioning

Galileo - discoveries - aristotle views being over thrown

Descartes = seceptism as useful tool to get rid of orthodocy

Montagne (Michel)
accesed transaltion - impact on him
Essays written carved mottos from Impericus - suspend judgement I examine I don't lean this way more than that way
Logo - a pair of evely balanced scales - propositon and counter propisiotn

Important to him - brutal wars of religion in his time
People killin each other over things they beleived - result of dogmatism - does not allow us not to know what we do not know
It forces us to take sides.Scepticims can diffuse this

Schools - we don't know wnayhting - compatred with the search for certainty

Descartes - a tool for the search for certainty - scepticism a moment ot overcoe
monologue - single mind enquiring rather than opposing the outdi views
searching for the foundations of knowledge
Atrrovius - we are trying to build solid foundations
Quesyion all beliefs so can reconstruct foundational beliefs

I think therefore I am
Je pense donc je suis - changed to I think therefore I am

Contraversial - agenda for scince for decades to come
Attacked by religions - undermining the foundations of faith - he thoguht he was backing up the foundations but people wouldn't accept that idea

Empty sceptical influence - lots of followers
New physics

The theme got carried forward by Pierre Bayol - influenced by wars in Farnce 0 a french priotestatn - hugenot
Toleration - scetpcism - dialogue rather than sinlge minded - lots of views from all over the place - contrasts - all of them intending to promote tolerance and realisationt ehre is lots to be aid on all different sides.

Intertwined throught eh middle centuries and then on

Antiquity - sure up christianuty - leave s roo for faiht
also a danger as underines uncertatingty adn all beleifs

Nephew - gianferancesco - reader of books in greek
Attacks all vain doctrines but defeniding christianuty

a follower of sernorola
The vanity of pagan learning

Get reid of pagan learning then people will turn to the church - power
Montagine takes the view that Piro shoed the man without power and reason which encourages him to take his inspiration from on high
like a blank tablet on which the finger of God can carve whatever he wants

Hulme )(David)
influenced by Baiol
Issue that arguemtnes are presented - scepticism then makes room for faith
Fideous - beliees on faith but undermines human reasoning
Hulme - an atheist - 1711
greatest works - Treaties of human nature
mitigated works later on - academic scepticism - different understanding as to that of the ancients
make us aware of how little justifaction there is for dogmatisims
idea of enquiry

Modenr scientist as a view

prob of external world - grapples with this idea
belief in external world is incoherent - doesn't make sense to think an object lasts through time
Careless and inattention - won't pay any attention to the arguemtns
and the scetpcism disappears

Ultimate view - different - much calmer and relaced
extreme views - disappear
The whimsical condition of mankind - we can expect stones to fall or billiard balls to bash into the other when we hit them
We can not justify our own faculties
Cannot take everything down to basic pirnciples

Scietific enlightenment - really can't do sciscne with progress unless absolute certaintiy - infallible info
Another school fo thought - Frech - we cannot get that certainty ony God has that certainty but can get a second level of certainty - sfficient to get on with progress
Hob Thomas - political philosophy - not form somethign we know but from implication
buiold up political scinece but not on a claim of knowledge

We kow less that the domatists but more than the sceptics

We can have a certain knowledge on somet hings - getting thourhg by applying the idea of reasonable doubt
Doubt is not necessarily fromt he oppistite of beliefe but can be simply inquisitiveness and checking outthe basis of things
We don't always have to look for more than probabaility
More or less the principle of scince - best explanation of appearances

Scetpical chemist - we can go forward on linited certitude.

Sceptisims to day - epistomology 101 - how can we refute the sceptic - basic philosopy - how can we know what we know

actually odenr science is infused with scepticism.

Bliss
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