Single Idea 1883

[catalogued under 12. Knowledge Sources / B. Perception / 5. Interpretation]

Full Idea

Just as you can't know if a portrait of Socrates is good without seeing the man, so when the intellect gazes on sensations but not the external objects it cannot know whether they are similar.

Gist of Idea

How can the intellect know if sensation is reliable if it doesn't directly see external objects?

Source

Sextus Empiricus (Outlines of Pyrrhonism [c.180], II.75)

Book Reference

Sextus Empiricus: 'Outlines of Pyrrhonism', ed/tr. Bury,R.G. [Prometheus 1990], p.120