Aenesidemus c. 100 BC – c. 40 BC

Aenesidemus of Cnossos was a 1st-century BC Greek philosopher who revived the Pyrrhonian school of Skepticism after a period in which Skepticism had been dominated by the New Academy. His major work, the Pyrrhonian Discourses in eight books, is lost but survives in summary in the writings of later authors including Photius and Sextus Empiricus. He developed the famous Ten Modes of Skepticism, systematic patterns of argument designed to induce suspension of judgement on disputed questions. He taught in Alexandria and was the principal figure in restoring the Pyrrhonian tradition that culminated in the writings of Sextus Empiricus three centuries later. His influence on the entire later Pyrrhonian tradition has been decisive.

Key facts

Nationality: Greek
Era: Ancient
Movements: Skepticism, Hellenistic, Ancient Greek

Selected quotes

Attributed to Aenesidemus:

“To every account an opposing account of equal force can be set.”
Attributed to Aenesidemus:

“The same things appear different to different animals, to different individuals, and to the same individual under different conditions.”
Attributed to Aenesidemus:

“Suspending judgement, we attain peace.”
Attributed to Aenesidemus:

“Honey appears sweet to the healthy and bitter to the jaundiced; we cannot say which it is in itself.”