Arkesilay ( Greek Ἀρκεσίλαος , Latin Arkesilaos ; c. 315 BC , Pitan, Aeolides - c. 240 BC , Athens ) - ancient Greek philosopher , head of the second (Secondary) Academy (see Platonism ) in 270-241 years BC e.
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He gave the school a skeptical direction , preaching “abstinence from judgment” (ἐποχή); only the probable, he believed, was within the attainable, and it was enough for life.
Having received a thorough education and listened to the conversations of the peripatetic Feofrast and Academician Krantor , he developed, under the influence of Pirron ’s philosophy, a special skeptical worldview, which refuted the Stoic doctrine and consisted in the fact that (in the world) there is no undeniable criterion for determining the truth and that any situation can be disputed by those or other reasons that also seem likely; therefore, the attainment of the absolutely true is inaccessible to human consciousness, and, therefore, it is necessary to limit oneself to the only probable, which, according to the teachings of Arkesilay, is quite sufficient for our practical activities.
Arkesilaus focused on criticizing Stoicism and its founder, Zeno of Kitai . The Stoics believed that only that which is known by reason is reliable, but cognition itself begins with sensory perception, which forms the image of an object. Due to the perception of this image, a conscious idea of the corresponding object is formed, evaluated by the mind. The representations themselves cannot be regarded as true or false, only their subjective assessment can be evaluated. Skeptics have introduced the concept of cataleptic representation (from the other Greek. Κατάληψις - grasping, holding), which is true, cannot be false in principle and cannot come from nonexistent. Self-evident truth, which forces one to admit oneself, to believe, to cast aside doubts [1] .
Arkesilaus uses the arguments of the Stoics themselves: since it is possible to agree or not only with a judgment, but not with a representation, then it is unacceptable to evaluate a cataleptic representation. Self-evidence as a criterion does not hold water: any perception can be false [2] .
In life, he represented a new type of skeptic. Pirron was respectable and respected by society, Timon was sarcastic, and Arkesilaus was a secular man who paid great attention to the fine arts and poetry. He was known for his independence and nobility of character [3] .
Like Pirron, he did not write his works, his thoughts were kept by Lacides .
Notes
- ↑ Dziova E.N. “Cataleptic Representation” as a Criterion of Truth in Stoic Logic // Young Scientist. - 2014. - No. 8. - S. 956-958.
- ↑ Asmus V.F. Antique Philosophy - M .: Higher School, 1976. - P.498.
- ↑ Tatarkevich V. History of Philosophy: Per. from Polish / Per. V.N. Kvaskov. - Perm: Publishing house Perm. University, 2000 .-- 482 S. (ISBN 5-8241-0229-5)
Links
- Arkesilay // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
- Diogenes of Laertes . About the life of philosophers. Book 4.
Literature
- Antique Philosophy: Encyclopedic Dictionary. - M .: Progress Tradition. 2008 .-- P.184.
- Simone Vezzoli, Arcesilao di Pitane: l'origine del platonismoneoaccademico. Analisi e fonti. Philosophie hellénistique et romaine. Turnhout: Brepols Publishers, 2016. Pp. 300. ISBN 9782503550299
- Cooper, J., 'Arcesilaus: Socratic and Skeptic', in J. Cooper, Knowledge, Nature, and the Good (Princeton 2004) 81-103.
- Dorandi, T., 'Arcesilas de Pitane' in R. Goulet (ed.), Dictionnaire des Philosophes Antiques, i, (Paris 1989) 326-30 (no. 302).