Pyrrhonian Skepticism
Key Figures: Pyrrho of Elis, Sextus Empiricus, Agrippa the Skeptic, Aenesidemus, etc.
Pyrrhonian skepticism was a radical questioning about any and all judgement of knowledge or truth. While modern-day skeptics typically examine the certainty of, say, the possibility of metaphysics or the possibility of ethics from an epistemological standpoint, the ancient Pyrrhonians suspended all judgment. Their claim was that all knowledge was fundamentally dogmatic, and the dogmas that they rely on are uncertain and can be undermined by any perceptive skeptic. They provided a variety of arguments to back up their claim, such as the question of infinite regress (I.e. if 'b' justifies a, then 'c' has to justify 'b', but then 'd' has to justify 'b, and so on) or, as stated, the problem of dogmatism; this has us eventually having to rely on certain axioms which can never be defended. So, how does this sort of extreme skeptic live? If they deny all belief and judgment, then why should they drive on the right side of the road or drink water if they don't believe that they are epistemically justified? Some scholars think that the Pyrrhonians didn't successfully answer this question, and others that the skeptic - while suspending all belief - could merely live according to custom since certain things are pushed upon them. If the skeptic walks outside during the day, then they can properly say "It is shining outside", but they could still deny believing so - the sunrays just immediately caused them to act in one way as opposed to another. Or, it is customary to drive on the right side of the road in addition to the skeptic just not wanting to die. While this may seem like a difficult way of living, the founders of this doctrine actually formed it out of a concern for your philosophical and mental well-being; basically: 'you don't need to worry about the truth of this or that', 'you don't need trouble yourself with trying to find out about x or y', and similar sentiments. Instead, the Pyrrhonian skeptic could live life with an almost empty, but serene, state of mind. Ignorance truly is bliss. To end, some critics of skepticism in general argue that the skeptic undermines her own argument by making the claim that knowledge is impossible [or uncertain]. But, for the Pyrrhonian, they notably did not make any positive affirmations about the impossibility of belief and truth, they simply made no affirmation at all!