Outlines of Pyrrhonism

An authoritative new translation of an important work of ancient philosophical skepticism

In this volume, Richard Bett, a leading translator of and authority on the ancient Greek skeptic Sextus Empiricus, presents the first new, complete English translation in decades of the philosopher’s best-known work, Outlines of Pyrrhonism, together with an introduction and extensive commentary. In clear, modern English, the translation captures Sextus’s direct and frequently witty style, and the accessible commentary, which draws on the latest scholarship, offers a detailed vision of Sextus’s aims and approach.

Outlines of Pyrrhonism is the only surviving work by Sextus that includes a general account of his variety of skepticism: Pyrrhonian skepticism, claiming inspiration from the philosopher Pyrrho of Elis. This general account appears in Book I of the work, while Books II and III apply Sextus’s method to the main areas of philosophy recognized in later antiquity: logic, physics, and ethics. Bett’s commentary analyzes Sextus’s arguments, explaining their historical context and assessing their philosophical merits, and discusses points of the Greek text and translation where these present difficulties.

The result is an authoritative edition of an essential work of ancient Greek philosophy.