Paradox

E L E V E NSextus Empiricus andthe Infinite Regress ofJustificationWe know almost nothing—about Sextus Empiricus. We donot know when this codifier of Greek skepticism was born orwhen he died. We do not know where he was born or taughtor even if he was Greek rather than a barbarian. He appearsto have been a physician and the head of some school ofphilosophy. Most scholars place him in the second century.But they are guessing.What we do know is that Sextus Empiricus authoredOutlines of Pyrrhonism and Against the Logicians. Thesebooks, along with several others that are commonly attributedto him, compile two hundred years of skeptical arguments.Since Sextus wanted to counter the dogmatists of hisday, he patiently describes the doctrines of Aristotle, DiodorusCronus, the Stoics, and many others. Sextus only recordsphilosophical positions with a view to undermining them.