Saisset propounds as a law in the history of
philosophy a fact which he claims to be true, that Scepticism
always follows sensationalism, for which he gives two examples,
Pyrrho, who was first a disciple of Democritus, and Hume, who
was a disciple of Locke It is not necessary to discuss the
absurdity of such a law, which someone has well remarked would
involve an _a priori_ construction of history. There is no
apparent reason for Saisset's conjecture in regard to
Aenesidemus, for it is exactly the opposite of what Sextus has
reported. Strange to say, Saisset himself remarks in another
place that we owe religious respect to any text, and that it
should be the first law of criticism to render this.[3] Such
respect to the text of Sextus, as he himself advocates, puts
Saisset's explanation of the subject under discussion out of the
question.
[1] Ritter, _Op. cit._ p. 280. Book IV.
[2] Saisset, _Op. cit._ p. 206.
[3] Saisset _Op. cit._ p. 206.
Hirzel and Natorp do not find such a marked contradiction in the
two views presented of the theories of Aenesidemus, nor do they
think that Sextus has misrepresented them. They rather maintain,
that in declaring the coexistence of contradictory predicates
regarding the same object, Aenesidemus does not cease to be a
Sceptic, for he did not believe that the predicates are
applicable in a dogmatic sense of the word, but are only
applicable in appearance, that is, applicable to phenomena.
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