XX Introduction
own thought, Pyrrhonists looked outside the Socratic/ Academic tradition
for the early 'founder' which every school wished to have to legitimate
its intellectual stance. In this case, the founder selected was Pyrrho of
Elis, an otherwise shadowy figure of the mid-fourth century. Pyrrho's
life and thought are a mystery to us today; since he wrote nothing, our
only sources for his activity are the later Pyrrhonists, who had a strong
revisionist motivation, and a younger contemporary, the intellectual sati-
rist Timon of Phlius, whose poetic works are preserved in very fragmen-
tary form. That Pyrrho was a sceptic is clear enough, but the exact
character and motivation of his scepticism are virtually impossible to
determine. What is clear though is that later Pyrrhonists differed markedly
from Academic sceptics in having a clear notion of the ethical goal of
their sceptical activity. Sextus Empiricus, the long-winded medical man
who is our chief extant source of Pyrrhonism of all periods, makes it
very clear that freedom from disturbance is the purpose of scepticism.
Thus the motivation for preserving one's freedom from dogmatic intellec-
tual commitments became much clearer than it was for the Academics.
And, perhaps as a result of this, the epistemic stance of Pyrrhonian
scepticism is also significantly different from that of the Academics. It
is no longer just freedom from assent, but the careful balancing of the
sceptic's mind between equally plausible but opposing views which is
the key to the Pyrrhonian sceptic's intellectual tranquillity.The development of Greek philosophy in the Hellenistic period is a
matter of great historical importance. Ultimately, however, one must also
form an opinion about its philosophical significance; this will inevitably
be closely bound up with the judgement one forms of the relationship
between Hellenistic and classical Greek philosophy and the merits of
both its continuity and its innovations. It is fitting to leave the reader to
form his or her own view of the originality and permanent value of
Hellenistic thought; we hope that this book will provide a useful starting
point for this task.