Arcesilaus Quotes on Knowledge
Arcesilaus (c. 316–241 BC), the founder of the skeptical phase of Plato's Academy, developed the radical version of Socratic ignorance that withholds assent (epochē) from every assertion, including the assertion that nothing can be known. Cicero and Sextus Empiricus preserve the dialectical method by which Arcesilaus argued in utramque partem against the dogmatic claims of the Stoics — especially against Zeno's "cognitive impression" as a criterion of truth — and the corresponding practical doctrine that the wise person guides action by the eulogon (the reasonable) in the absence of certainty.
Quotes
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Attributed to Arcesilaus:
“Suspension of judgment is the only response of the wise to the conflict of appearances.”
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Attributed to Arcesilaus:
“The wise man does not assent to anything as certain.”
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Attributed to Arcesilaus:
“What is reasonable, not what is certain, guides the conduct of the wise.”
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Attributed to Arcesilaus:
“On every question two opposite arguments can be advanced with equal force.”
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Attributed to Arcesilaus:
“Nothing is more shameful than that assent and approval should outrun knowledge.”
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“Παρακαλούμενος δὲ πάλιν ἀκοῦσαι τοῦ τὴν ἀηδόνα μιμουμένου, παρῃτήσατο φήσας, “Αὐτᾶς ἄκουκα.”
When he was invited to hear the man who imitated the nightingale , he declined, saying: "I have heard the bird herself. | Plutarch , Life of Agesilaus , 21, 5 (tr. Bernadotte Perrin , 1917) -
“When he was invited to hear the man who imitated the nightingale , he declined, saying: "I have heard the bird herself.”
Παρακαλούμενος δὲ πάλιν ἀκοῦσαι τοῦ τὴν ἀηδόνα μιμουμένου, παρῃτήσατο φήσας, “Αὐτᾶς ἄκουκα. -
“Καίτοι τῷ λόγῳ πανταχοῦ τὴν δικαιοσύνην ἀπέφαινε πρωτεύειν τῶν ἀρετῶν· ἀνδρείας μὲν γὰρ οὐδὲν ὄφελος εἶναι, μὴ παρούσης δικαιοσύνης, εἰ δὲ δίκαιοι πάντες γένοιντο, μηδὲν ἀνδρείας δεήσεσθαι.”
He was always declaring that justice was the first of the virtues; for valour was of no use unless justice attended it, and if all men should be just, there would be no need of valour. | Plutarch, Life , 23, 5 (tr. Perrin) Compare: Winston Churchill , in Collier's (27 June 1931) p. 49, col. 2 -
“Τοῦ δὲ ἰατροῦ Μενεκράτους, ἐπεὶ κατατυχὼν ἔν τισιν ἀπεγνωσμέναις θεραπείαις Ζεὺς ἐπεκλήθη, φορτικῶς ταύτῃ χρωμένου τῇ προσωνυμίᾳ καὶ δὴ καὶ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἐπιστεῖλαι τολμήσαντος οὕτως· “Μενεκράτης Ζεὺς βασιλεῖ Ἀγησιλάῳ χαίρειν,” ἀντέγραψε· “Βασιλεὺς Ἀγησίλαος Μενεκράτει ὑγιαίνειν.”
Menecrates the physician, who, for his successes in certain desperate cases, had received the surname of Zeus, and had the bad taste to employ the appellation, actually dared to write the king a letter beginning thus: "Menecrates Zeus, to King Agesilaüs, greeting." To this Agesilaüs replied: "King Agesilaüs, to Menecrates, health and sanity. | Plutarch, Life , 21, 5 (tr. Perrin) -
“Menecrates the physician, who, for his successes in certain desperate cases, had received the surname of Zeus, and had the bad taste to employ the appellation, actually dared to write the king a letter beginning thus: "Menecrates Zeus, to King Agesilaüs, greeting." To this Agesilaüs replied: "King Agesilaüs, to Menecrates, health and sanity.”
Τοῦ δὲ ἰατροῦ Μενεκράτους, ἐπεὶ κατατυχὼν ἔν τισιν ἀπεγνωσμέναις θεραπείαις Ζεὺς ἐπεκλήθη, φορτικῶς ταύτῃ χρωμένου τῇ προσωνυμίᾳ καὶ δὴ καὶ πρὸς ἐκεῖνον ἐπιστεῖλαι τολμήσαντος οὕτως· “Μενεκράτης Ζεὺς βασιλεῖ Ἀγησιλάῳ χαίρειν,” ἀντέγραψε· “Βασιλεὺς Ἀγησίλαος Μενεκράτει ὑγιαίνειν.