Ancient Philosophy Work in Progress Talks
- Starts:
- 12:00 pm on Monday, October 14, 2024
- Ends:
- 2:00 pm on Monday, October 14, 2024
- Location:
- STH 541, 745 Commonwealth Ave
A recurring meeting held by Cinzia Arruzza to discuss works in progress with other ancient philosophy scholars in the Boston area. The presenter for this meeting will be Christiana Olfert (Tufts):
Equipollence and Pyrrhonism as a Way of Life
Abstract:
Equipollence is central to Pyrrhonian Skepticism: it gives rise to suspension of judgment and tranquility, and these contribute to the Pyrrhonists’ distinctive way of life and living correctly (PH I.17). In this paper, I argue that to understand Skepticism as a way of life, we should reconsider the traditional understanding of what it means for arguments or accounts to be "equipollent," that is, “equal” in convincingness or persuasiveness. Equipollent items, I argue, need not be identical in convincingness or persuasiveness. Rather, as the Ten Modes of Aenesidemus show us, they can be “equal” if we cannot prefer or give precedence to one over the others as being more convincing. On the latter interpretation, equipollence need not be a Buridan’s donkey scenario in which the Skeptic is trapped between identical and opposing force-fields of convincingness; it can be, and probably often is, more like a state of aporia or puzzlement in which they don’t know what to think. Allowing equipollence to include states of indecision or aporia, in turn, makes it a more accessible foundation for a skeptical way of life.