November 8th to 11th, 2004

3rd DAY - Wednesday - November 10th, 2004
Special Session, 2.30 to 5 p.m.

Empiricism and Skepticism
Prof. Dr. Oswaldo Porchat Pereira
University of São Paulo, Brazil

[Abstract]
This paper purports to show that Greek skepticism resulted mainly from the fortunate interweaving, in the Hellenistic era, of three different traditions: the phenomenism of ancient Pyrrhonism, the dialectics of antinomies of the New Academy, and the theoretical and practical stand of the Greek Empiricist school of medicine. And that, from Sextus' skeptical doctrine, philosophical empiricism thus emerged in the history of Western thought. The paper further emphasizes the relevance of such a reading of ancient philosophy to contemporary studies, both of skepticism and of empiricism.

Center for Pragmatism Studies
Philosophy Graduate Program
Departament of Philosophy
Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo - Brazil