Skepticism (skepsis) and Ordinary Life (koinos bios): can Neopyrrhonism change our lives?

Abstract

The relationship between skepticism and everyday life has inspired, throughout
the history of skeptical thought—especially  regarding Pyrrhonism—rival interpretations, positions, and dilemmas. This contrast of views can be traced back to the origins of skepticism, with figures such as Pyrrhon of Elis (4th century B.C.) and Enesidemus (1st century A.D.), reaching its peak in the writings of Sextus Empiricus (3rd century A.D.). This article is structured in four main sections. First, I provide a historiographical reconstruction of this problem from the ancient Hellenistic period to the present day. Second, I focus on the research concerning the notion of transformation, beginning with the exegetical controversy between the rustic and urban interpretations of Pyrrhonism. Third, I present the positions that move beyond this controversy, particularly those linked to the critique of apraxia, by analyzing two transformative variants. Finally, I propose, from our ethical-practical approach to neopyrrhonism, the link between skepticism and every life is analyzed, conceiving this relationship through a notion of experimental transformation that we introduce from certain elements of Nietzsche´s legacy from the late period.