Sextus Empiricus

(c. 200 - c. 300)

Virtually nothing is known about the life of Sextus Empiricus, including where he lived—he has been placed in Rome, Athens, and Alexandria. Both Montaigne and Descartes based their modes of inquiry on Sextus’ account of Pyrrhonism. “Whoever will imagine a perpetual confession of ignorance, a judgment without leaning or inclination,” wrote Montaigne in his “Apology for Raymond Sebond,” “he has a conception of Pyrrhonism.”

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