The word “skepticism” comes from a Greek root that originally meant “to inquire” or “to seek out.”  How did we get from there to the modern notion of a skeptic as someone who is constantly casting doubt, if not outright rejecting the possibility of knowing anything for certain? And how might the skeptic navigate the challenges of ordinary life today?

In this first installment, we looked at skepticism within the history of Greek and Hellenistic philosophy, and especially at the work of the most famous skeptic within that tradition, Sextus Empiricus (2^nd/3^rd c. CE).  For Sextus, skepticism is both an orientation toward the philosophical life, and a method for approaching philosophical problems. 

In that course of exploring those two components of traditional skepticism, we:

• Situated the skeptical movements within the larger history of Greek philosophy
• Distinguished skepticism (in its classical sense) from apathy, indifference, and relativism
• Explored the practical methods which Sextus offers to see how they might be applied to a wide variety of problems or arguments
• Looked at the four special kinds of beliefs, which Sextus thinks are immune to the skeptical method

Once we did that, we took a step back to look at the big picture: Why would anyone want to be a skeptic?  Sextus claims that skepticism leads—surprisingly and unexpectedly—to a state of tranquility.  How is that supposed to work?  Is it really a path by which any of us could find that tranquility?

And we took up a practical question: How could a genuine skeptic—someone who suspends judgment on nearly all matters of belief—get by in the real, day-to-day world that we all inhabit?