Appearances and Impressions

Abstract

According to Sextus Empiricus, the Pyrrhonian sceptic adheres to the appearances (ta phainomena, PH 1.21). Without insisting that things are entirely as he says, he is willing to say how they presently appear to hm (PH 1.4). His uses of the word 'is' mean 'appears' (PH 1.135); even his philosophical slogans should be understood as referring to appearance (PH 1.15, 1. 191, 1.198-9, 1.200). Appearances are the sceptic's practical criterion and guide to action (PH 1.21-4). The purpose of this paper is to offer an interpretation of the sceptic's commitment to appearances, drawing both on the commonplace notion of appearance and on some of its philosophical uses prior to Sextus. Sextus never fully explains what he means by 'appearance'; and while we need to understand his meanings to interpret the sceptical stance, that stance sets restrictions on the form that a sceptical 'concept of appearance' might take. Sextus takes the view that it is inappropriate for the sceptic to argue about the meanings of words, and repeatedly states a preference for using them in a loose way (PH 1.191, 1.195, 1.207). Behind this view lies the general sceptical programme of opposition to dogmatic attempts to state the real nature of any phenomenon. Sextus' refusal to offer a sceptical account of appearance is not incidental, and it would be wrong to assume the existence of an implicit account awaiting our discovery. At the same time, Sextus' concern to prevent misunderstanding of scepticism makes him careful to note ambiguities and special senses in the sceptical vocabulary (e.g., PH. 1. 13, 1.21, 1.187ff.). his reticence about the vocabulary of appearance, in conjunction with his opposition to dogmatism, suggests that Sextus means to use these terms in a straighforward, commonplace way. Moreover, the other side of the sceptic's critique of dogmatism is his positive commitment to bios 'real life', the everyday world of pre-philosophical practice and experience (e.g., PH 1.23-4, 2.102, 3.235). And the espousal of bios is bound up with the commitment to appearances: So adhering to the appearances we live undogmatically