Thursday, 2 May 2019

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN PYRRHONISM AND BUDDHISM

Pyrrhonism can safely be said to be the most prominent and influential form of skepticism in the history of Western philosophy. 

It was an important philosophical movement in the Hellenistic and Imperial ages, made a tremendous impact on modern philosophy, and some of its arguments continue to be a central topic of discussion in the contemporary philosophical scene. This can be taken to be a strong indication of the intriguing and challenging character of the Pyrrhonian outlook
Similarities with Buddhism

Adiaphora, astathmēta, and anepikrita are strikingly similar to the Buddhist Three marks of existence, suggesting that Pyrrho's teaching is based on what he learned in India, which is what Diogenes Laërtius reported.

Other similarities between Pyrrhonism and Buddhism include a version of the tetralemma among the Pyrrhonist maxims and a parallel with the Buddhist Two Truths Doctrine. In Pyrrhonism, the Buddhist concept of "ultimate"  truth (paramārtha) corresponds with truth as defined via the criterion of truth, which in Pyrrhonism is seen as undemonstrated, and therefore nothing can be called "true" with respect of it being an account of reality. The Buddhist concept of "conventional" or "provisional" truth  (saṁvṛti)  corresponds in Pyrrhonism to truth defined via the Pyrrhonist criterion of action, which is used for making decisions about what to do.

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