Skepticism: From Antiquity to the Present

Skepticism: From Antiquity to the Present is an authoritative and up-to-date survey of the entire history of skepticism. Divided chronologically into ancient, medieval, renaissance, modern, and contemporary periods, and featuring 50 specially-commissioned chapters from leading philosophers, this comprehensive volume is the first of its kind. By exploring each of the distinct traditions and providing expert insights, this extensive reference work: - Covers major thinkers such as Sextus Empiricus, Cicero, Descartes, Hume, Spinoza, and Wittgenstein. - Acknowledges the influence of ancient skeptical traditions on later philosophy and explains why it is still a fertile topic of inquiry among today’s philosophers and historians of philosophy. - Analyzes various forms of skepticism including Pyrrhonian, Academic, religious, moral, and neo-Pyrrhonian. - Addresses issues in contemporary epistemology and indicates new directions of study. Skepticism, a driving force in the history of philosophy, remains at the center of debates in ethics, philosophy of religion, epistemology, and the philosophy of mind. Skepticism: From Antiquity to the Present is an essential point of reference for any student, researcher, or practitioner of philosophy, presenting a systematic and historical survey of this core philosophical topic.

Table of Contents:
General Introduction, Baron Reed and Diego Machuca Part I: Ancient Skepticism Introduction, Diego Machuca 1. Cyrenaicism, Richard Bett 2. Pyrrho and Timon, Casey Perin 3. Arcesilaus, Anna Maria Ioppolo 4. Carneades, Harald Thorsrud 5. Aenesidemus, Luca Castagnoli 6. Philo of Larissa, Harold Tarrant 7. Cicero, J.P.F. Wynne 8. Menodotus and Medical Empiricism, James Allen 9. Middle Platonism and Skepticism: Plutarch and Favorinus, Carlos Lévy 10. Sextus Empiricus, Tad Brennan and Cliff Roberts 11. Skepticism in Classical Indian Philosophy, Matthew Dasti Part II: Medieval and Renaissance Skepticism Introduction, Diego Machuca 12. Augustine and Skepticism, Stéphane Marchand 13. John of Salisbury's Skepticism, David Bloch; 14. Skepticism in Classical Islam: The Case of Ghazali, Paul Heck 15. Nicholas of Autrecourt and John Buridan, Christophe Grellard 16. Divine Deception, Henrik Lagerlund 17. Michel de Montaigne, Gianni Paganini 18. Pierre Charron, Gianni Paganini 19. Francisco Sanchez, Damian Caluori Part III: Modern Skepticism Introduction, Baron Reed 20. François de La Mothe Le Vayer, Sylvia Giocanti 21. Gassendi on Skepticism, Antonia LoLordo 22. Descartes and the Force of Skepticism, David Cunning 23. Varieties of Modern Academic Skepticism: Pierre-Daniel Huet and Simon Foucher, Michael Hickson 24. Spinoza and Skepticism, Alison Peterman 25. Pierre Bayle, John Christian Laursen 26. Berkeley and Skepticism, Margaret Atherton 27. A Pyrrhonian Interpretation of Hume on Assent, Donald L. M. Baxter 28. Thomas Reid’s Engagement with Skeptics and Skepticism, René van Woudenberg 29. Johann Georg Hamann, Gwen Griffith-Dickson 30. Kant and Skepticism, Georges Dicker 31. Hegel: Philosophy as a Kind of Skepticism, Dietmar Heidemann; 32. Friedrich Nietzsche, Andreas Urs Sommer 33. Russell’s Logical Construction of the External World, Peter Graham 34. Moore and Mooreanism, Annalisa Coliva 35. Wittgenstein and Skepticism: Illusory Doubts, Michael Williams 36. Richard Popkin on the History of Skepticism, José Raimundo Maia Neto Part IV: Contemporary Skepticism Introduction, Baron Reed 37. Regress Arguments and Skepticism, Richard Fumerton 38. The Problem of the Criterion, Andrew Cling 39. Neo-Pyrrhonism, Markus Lammenranta 40. Disagreement and Skepticism, Bryan Frances 41. Skepticism and the Internalism-Externalism Debate, Matthias Steup 42. Skepticism and Fallibilism, Stephen Hetherington 43. Skepticism and Contextualism, Michael Blome-Tillmann 44. External World Skepticism, Ram Neta 45. Disjunctivism and Skepticism, Duncan Pritchard and Chris Ranalli 46. Skepticism about Induction: A Functionalist Investigation, Ruth Weintraub 47. Skepticism about Other Minds, Anil Gomes 48. Moral Skepticism, Richard Joyce 49. Religious Skepticism, J. L. Schellenberg 50. Skepticism about A Priori Knowledge, Otavio Bueno Index

About the Author :
Diego E. Machuca is Associate Researcher in Philosophy at the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina. He is Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal for the Study of Skepticism and Series Editor of Brill Studies in Skepticism. Baron Reed is Professor in the Department of Philosophy at Northwestern University, USA.

Review :
A comprehensive, dynamic and complex picture of scepticism in the history and practice of philosophy [which] makes an important contribution to the contemporary debate by providing the reader with a wide-ranging understanding and appreciation of the multifacetedness of scepticism ... A must-have book for philosophers interested in the topic. Comprehensive, ambitious, authoritative, and judiciously edited by two acknowledged experts in the field, this volume will be an invaluable resource for students and professionals alike. Research on the topic will benefit from this impressive collection of scholarship. This volume marks a watershed moment. It demonstrates how the study of skepticism has matured so that skepticism is now rightly understood not as a curious but misconceived problem against which proper philosophy can cut its teeth or as a topic of merely antiquarian interest. In the rich and comprehensive essays collected here, an array of leading international scholars explain how powerful currents of skepticism surge across the entirety of philosophical history in ways that still offer resources salient to the central challenges of contemporary philosophical thought today. This is a uniquely comprehensive collection, comprised of lucid, informative and up to date essays by world renowned experts on their topics. The volume will serve as an indispensable resource for both students and scholars of skepticism, skeptical traditions, and skeptical arguments. The volume is a true tour de force.