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Full Idea
Pyrrhonians say that truth and falsehood exist; within us we have means of looking for them, but not of making any lasting judgements: we have no touchstone.
Clarification
'Pyrrhonians' are sceptics, followers of Pyrrho of Elis
Gist of Idea
Sceptics say there is truth, but no means of making or testing lasting judgements
Source
Michel de Montaigne (Apology for Raymond Sebond [1580], p.0564)
Book Ref
Montaigne,Michel de: 'The Complete Essays', ed/tr. Screech,M.A. [Penguin 1987], p.564
A Reaction
This states the key difference between sceptics and relativists. The latter are more extreme as they say there is no such thing as truth. The former concede truth, and their scepticism is about the abilities of human beings. I am an anti-relativist.
| 6258 | Virtue is the distinctive mark of truth, and its greatest product [Montaigne] |
| 6259 | Why can't a wise man doubt everything? [Montaigne] |
| 6260 | Sceptics say there is truth, but no means of making or testing lasting judgements [Montaigne] |
| 6261 | The soul is in the brain, as shown by head injuries [Montaigne] |
| 6262 | We lack some sense or other, and hence objects may have hidden features [Montaigne] |
| 6263 | No wisdom could make us comfortably walk a wide beam if it was high in the air [Montaigne] |