Sextus Empiricus: General Principles 309
Sextus PH 1.210-241 [III-27]
Ch. xxix That the Sceptical Approach Differs from Heraclitean
Philosophy
- That it [Heracliteanism] differs from our approach is self-evident.
For Heraclitus pronounces dogmatically about many non-evident things,
whereas we do not, as has already been said. Aenesidemus and his follow-
ers used to say that the sceptical approach is a preliminary to the Heracli-
tean philosophy because opposite appearances of the same thing lead to
[the claim] that the same thing really has opposite attributes, and whereas
the sceptic says that there are opposite appearances, the Heracliteans go
from this to the claim that the same thing really has opposite attributes.
So we say to these people that the statement about opposite appearances
is not a dogma of the sceptics, but is something experienced not only by
sceptics, but other philosophers and all men as well. 211. At least, no
one would dare say that honey is not sweet to healthy people or bitter
to the jaundiced. So, the Heracliteans are starting from a basic grasp
common to [all] men, just as we do, and probably the rest of the philoso-
phers as well. Therefore, if they [the Heracliteans] got the idea that the
same thing has opposite attributes from some sceptical utterance like "all
things are ungraspable" or "I determine nothing" or something similar,
they would have perhaps inferred their conclusion. But since their starting
points are not only our experiences but those of the rest of the philoso-
phers and of daily life, why would someone say that it is our approach
that leads to Heraclitean philosophy rather than that of each of the other
philosophies or daily life, since we all use common material? - Indeed, the sceptical approach not only does not assist in the
knowledge of Heraclitean philosophy, but it is a hindrance to it, since
the sceptic attacks all the dogmas of Heraclitus as rashly stated, contradict-
ing the [theory of universal] conflagration and contradicting the claim that
the same thing has opposite attributes, ridiculing the dogmatic rashness of
Heraclitus regarding every dogma, saying repeatedly "I do not grasp"
and "I determine nothing" as I said before. This actually conflicts with
the Heracliteans. Now it is absurd to say that a conflicting approach is
a path to the system with which it conflicts and therefore it is absurd to
say that the sceptical approach is a path to the Heraclitean philosophy.
Ch. xxx In What Respect the Sceptical Approach Differs from
Democritean Philosophy
- It is also said that the philosophy ofDemocritus has some associa-
tion with scepticism since it seems to employ the same material as we.
For from the fact that honey appears sweet to some and bitter to others,