April 18, 2013An Apology for Raymond SebondBy: Michel Eyquem de Montaigne1. ?2. Their doctrine cannot be accurately described in any language we have now. All current languageis to exact and essentially picks one side over the other too much (doubt, etc.). 3. They are not inconsistent because they are changing with their new surroundings and experiences they are not going into an ataraxic state. 4. Everything around us influences our judgment. It could be anything from the weather to a story that we heard. 5. It can be dangerous, you cannot always be sure that what you pray for today is what you’ll want tomorrow. This is shown in the case of the man who prayed for everything he touched to be turned into gold. Notes- Apology=defend so the author is defending Raymond Sebondo Defends Sebond not with his own (michel’s) work but with other, ancient philosophers. - Skepticism/skeptics o Group of ancient philosophers(200 AD) - When you go in search for something you can only come to 3 conclusionso You find ito You don’t find ito You keep looking for it- Dogmatic Philosophybelieve that truth/reality can be knowno There can be an absolute TRUTH/reality that we are capable of knowing; not only that but the philosopher (self) knows the truth and you only need to read their writings for you to know the TRUTHo Religion is a form of dogmatism because God, Allah, Buddha, etc. is the TRUTHo Comfort in knowing the answers; knowing that there is a purpose o Downfalls of dogmatism: your ‘truth’ may not be correct, it is confining (you must put onthe blinders), you may not be happy with the trutho When confronted by an academic philosopher you feel as though they haven’t found thetruth and are uneducated. They must protect what they believe in.  When challenged you may have a hint of doubt about your own beliefs - Academic philosophytruth/reality cannot be knowno Say that if there is a truth out there we (human beings) will not be able to understand the truth; you can never know the truth.o You will always be in the hunt for an explanation for thingso Downsides: you’re left sort of floating meaning there’s no certainty in lifeo- Skeptic (pyrrhonian) philosophy? Maybe (who knows?)o Suspending your judgment, set aside, nothing is ever right/wrong or true/falseo Epoche  refraining from any conclusiono Ataraxia quietude/tranquility; relaxing your mind; “finding your inner zen”; literally meaning “no disturbance”o Skeptics try and see as many sides of the argument as possible  They strive to see AT LEAST two sides of the argumento Often play the devil’s advocate (pick the opposite side as you)  They do this as a way to expand their knowledge of both sides of the argumento Equipollencefor every thought/belief there is an opposite and equal though/belief This tells us that there is no thought/belief that is stronger than any other thought/beliefo As a skeptic you refuse to take a side on anything so would you get through your daily life? What time is it? Are you going to go to work? Do you even have a job?o A skeptic is sure of how things or how things appear, they use purely subjective judgment This allows them to function in daily life This would mean that to a skeptic a hallucination is as real as something ‘real’ because it’s what they’re perceiving (seeing, hearing, etc.)o If there is some sort of objective truth what should be true for all of us? We would all know the truth so would all react the same to the same stimuli(biology of a human) Some people like hot, some people like cold.  Also, if there is an objective TRUTH than there should be something that EVERONE in the world agrees with Even you can’t agree with your own thoughts - What you think now you might not think in 5 min, 5 years, etc.o In a court of law it is supposed to be completely objective, based on facts.  No emotional spillover, personal bias, etc. should matter in a court of law but this doesn’t happen.- There’ s no way to truly get rid of emotions in humans The LAW may be objective and unemotional but the people who uphold/interpret law are noto A lot of the time it’s hard for us to figure out what is best for ourselves let alone find the Truth If you pray for something you may not want what you asked