17.20–18.30
Diego Machuca (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas): The Pyrrhonist’s
Observance of the Law of Non-Contradiction
Thursday 7: Pyrrhonism in Modern Philosophy
9.30–10.40
Sylvia Giocanti (Université de Toulouse): L'expérience sceptique de l'évidence et sa postérité à l'âge classique
10.40
Coffee
11.00–12.10
Luiz Alves Eva (Universidade Federal do Paraná): Bacon's Doctrine of Idols and Skepticism
12.10–13.20
Michael Williams (Johns Hopkins University): Experience and Our Knowledge of the World:
Descartes's Transformation of the Skeptical Tradition
13.20–15.20
Lunch
15.20–16.30
Peter Fosl (Transylvania University): Skepticism and the Possibility of Nature
16.30–17.40
Plínio Junqueira Smith (Universidade São Judas Tadeu): Hume on Skeptical Arguments
17.40
Coffee
18.00–19.10
Sébastien Charles (Université de Sherbrooke): Voltaire et le scepticisme
Friday 8: Pyrrhonism in Contemporary Philosophy
10.00–11.10
Ernest Sosa (Rutgers University): Descartes and Contemporary Epistemology: Skepticism and Virtue Theory
11.10
Coffee
11.30–12.40
Markus Lammenranta (University of Helsinki): The Pyrrhonian Dialectic
12.40–14.40
Lunch
14.40–15.50
Juan Comesaña (University of Wisconsin): Can Contemporary Semantics Help the Skeptic Get a Life?
15.50–16.10
Coffee
16.10–17.20
Otávio Bueno (University of Miami): Neo-Pyrrhonism, Empiricism, and Scientific Activity
9.30
Ricardo Maliandi / Héctor Muzzopappa (Universidad Nacional de Lanús): Apertura
10.00–11.10
Roberto Polito (University of Cambridge): 'Outlining Memories': Aenesidemus and Medical Empiricism
11.10
Coffee
11:30–12.40
Richard Bett (John Hopkins University): How Ethical Can an Ancient Sceptic Be?
12.40–14.40
Lunch
14.40–15.50
Svavar Svavarsson (University of Iceland): The End of Pyrrhonism: On Ataraxia
15.50–17.00
Lorenzo Corti (Fonds National Suisse de la Recherche Scientifique): Sextus and Numbers: Adversus Mathematicos IV
17.00
Coffee
International Conference on Ancient Pyrrhonism
and its Influence on Modern and Contemporary Philosophy
Buenos Aires, Argentina. August 6-8, 2008
Nowadays, there is considerable interest in the works of Sextus Empiricus, our major source for Pyrrhonian skepticism. Until not long ago, however, the predominant tendency among scholars of ancient philosophy was to regard Sextus’ oeuvre exclusively as an invaluable source of information about other thinkers and schools whose views would otherwise be even more obscure or completely unknown. His writings were not read as what they essentially are: a detailed account of Pyrrhonism by one of the leading representatives of this philosophical movement. Particularly since the 1980s there has been a strong trend to assess more highly the importance of Pyrrhonism as a philosophy. What is most interesting is that this philosophical movement did not end with Sextus and his few immediate successors, since it has had a tremendous impact on both modern and contemporary philosophy. First, historians of ideas have argued that the Renaissance rediscovery of Sextus’ works played a key role in the formation of modern thought. Second, many contemporary epistemologists have vigorously discussed the Pyrrhonian arguments against the rational justification of our beliefs (the famous Agrippa’s trilemma). This conference will be devoted both to the history and significance of ancient Pyrrhonism and to its influence on modern and contemporary philosophy.
The conference is organized by the Departamento de Humanidades y Artes, Universidad Nacional de Lanús and is supported by the Agencia Nacional de Promoción Científica y Tecnológica.
It is sponsored by the Centre d'Études en Rhétorique, Philosophie et Histoire des Idées (CERPHI), the Secretaría de Cultura de la Nación, and the Embassy of Finland in Buenos Aires.
Venue
Sala Augusto Cortázar, Biblioteca Nacional
Agüero 2502, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires
Topic areas
1- Ancient Pyrrhonism
2- Pyrrhonism in Modern Philosophy
3- Pyrrhonism in Contemporary Philosophy
Speakers
Richard Bett (Johns Hopkins University)
Otávio Bueno (University of Miami)
Sébastien Charles (Université de Sherbrooke)
Juan Comesaña (University of Wisconsin)
Lorenzo Corti (Fonds National Suisse de la Recherche Scientifique)
Luiz Eva (Universidade Federal do Paraná)
Peter Fosl (Transylvania University)
Sylvia Giocanti (Université de Toulouse)
Plínio Junqueira Smith (Universidade São Judas Tadeu)
Markus Lammenranta (University of Helsinki)
Diego Machuca (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas)
Roberto Polito (University of Cambridge)
Ernesto Sosa (Rutgers University)
Svavar Svavarsson (University of Iceland)
Michael Williams (Johns Hopkins University)
Program:
Wednesday 6: Ancient Pyrrhonism