2022•Cuadernos salmantinos de filosofíaOpen access

Wittgenstein and neopyrrhonism

Guadalupe Reinoso

Open full text 0 citations

Abstract

Wittgenstein’s latest work, On Certainty, has not only been read as the dissolution of Cartesian skepticism but as a proposal of a new skepticism. This “new” skepticism has been understood by R. Fogelin (1976 [2002], 1981, 1994) as close to Sextus Empiricus’s Pyrrhonism. Therefore, he called it Neopyrrhonism. To Fogelin, both authors share the epistemological strategythat assumes that basic beliefs of common sense do not require any type of justification but cannotbe doubted either. My proposal is to review this epistemological interpretation of the notion of Neopyrrhonism in light of the metaphilosophical aspects developed by both authors. These aspects highlight the non-theoretical and therapeutic way of understanding philosophy, as well as the persuasive-argumentative abilities they share. Thus, I suggest conceiving of Neopyrrhonism as metaphilosophy rather than as one kind of philosophy focused on the problem of knowledge orjustification.

Open-access reader

About this research paper

What this paper is about

Wittgenstein’s latest work, On Certainty, has not only been read as the dissolution of Cartesian skepticism but as a proposal of a new skepticism. This “new” skepticism has been understood by R. Fogelin (1976 [2002], 1981, 1994) as close to Sextus Empiricus’s Pyrrhonism. Therefore, he called it Neopyrrhonism. To Fogelin, both authors share the epistemological strategythat assumes that basic beliefs of common sense do not require any type of justification but cannotbe doubted either. My proposal is to review this epistemological interpretation of the notion of Neopyrrhonism in light of the metaphilosophical aspects developed by both authors. These aspects highlight the non-theoretical and therapeutic way of understanding philosophy, as well as the persuasive-argumentative abilities they share. Thus, I suggest conceiving of Neopyrrhonism as metaphilosophy rather than as one kind of philosophy focused on the problem of knowledge orjustification.

Why it matters

A significance statement is not available in the OpenAlex record.

Key contribution

A contribution statement is not available in the OpenAlex record.

Method / approach

Method details are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Main findings

Findings are not separately available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Limitations

Limitations are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Applications

Application details are not available in the OpenAlex metadata.

Available abstract

Wittgenstein’s latest work, On Certainty, has not only been read as the dissolution of Cartesian skepticism but as a proposal of a new skepticism. This “new” skepticism has been understood by R. Fogelin (1976 [2002], 1981, 1994) as close to Sextus Empiricus’s Pyrrhonism. Therefore, he called it Neopyrrhonism. To Fogelin, both authors share the epistemological strategythat assumes that basic beliefs of common sense do not require any type of justification but cannotbe doubted either. My proposal is to review this epistemological interpretation of the notion of Neopyrrhonism in light of the metaphilosophical aspects developed by both authors. These aspects highlight the non-theoretical and therapeutic way of understanding philosophy, as well as the persuasive-argumentative abilities they share. Thus, I suggest conceiving of Neopyrrhonism as metaphilosophy rather than as one kind of philosophy focused on the problem of knowledge orjustification.

Key concepts: Skepticism, Epistemology, Argumentative, Certainty, Philosophy, Interpretation (philosophy), Metaphilosophy, Modern philosophy

Related papers

Back to paper searchBrowse research topicsOriginal source
Wittgenstein and neopyrrhonism — Research Paper | ScholarLens