Hi there. You're listening to the Hellenistic Age podcast. Episode 46, Hellenistic philosophy, Peronian and academic skepticism.

I think, therefore, I am.

This is perhaps one of the most well-known phrases in all of philosophy,

put forth by the 17th century French philosopher René Descartes as a way to answer the perennial

question of,

how do I know what is reality, or what is truth, their knowledge,

which has variously manifested as the evil genius, fallibility of the senses,

or, more recently, a computer simulation.

The discussion of existence and perception was no stranger to the Hellenistic philosophers,

and the school that provided one of the most radical interpretations belonged to those known as the skeptics. The school of skepticism, derived from the Greek word sceptius, meaning inquiry

or investigation, argues that our abilities to perceive and determine the truth of matters

are prone to error.

The two competing skeptic branches, the Peronians and academics, agreed on this matter,

but the former was concerned with using skepticism to achieve inner tranquility,

while the latter bent on applying it to approach closer to the truth.

In this episode, we'll be comparing and contrasting the Peronian and academic skeptic schools of philosophy that emerged during the early Hellenistic period, in order to see if

we could truly say that we know anything at all.

While it became more concrete and systematized during the Hellenistic period, the problems

and paradoxes of knowledge were well known to

earlier Greek philosophers.

Famously in the apology, Socrates argued that he was probably the wisest man simply because

he admitted that he truly didn't know anything, besides the fact that he knew nothing.

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