Nowhere do we find a change of
basis referred to in regard to him, and Sextus, in refuting the
mistakes which he attributes to Aenesidemus, does it, as it
were, to point out something of which Aenesidemus had been
unconscious.
Let us consider here the second cause of Aenesidemus' Dogmatism,
the psychological effect upon himself of formulating Sceptical
beliefs. The work that he did for the Sceptical School was a
positive one. It occupied years of his life, and stamped itself
upon his mental development. In formulating Scepticism, and in
advocating it against the many enemies of the School, and amidst
all the excitement of the disruption from the Academy, and of
establishing a new School, it was inevitable that his mind
should take a dogmatic tendency. He remained a Sceptic as he had
always been, but must have grown dogmatic in his attitude
towards the Sceptical formulae, and was thus able to adopt some
of the teachings of Heraclitus, unconscious of their
inconsistency.
Where should we find a modern writer who is consistent in all
his statements? Could we read the works of Aenesidemus, we might
better understand the connection between the apparently
contradictory ideas in his teaching, but the inconsistencies in
statement would probably remain. It is necessary to remember the
position of Aenesidemus in breaking away from the Academy and in
founding a new school, the full significance of which he could
not foresee. There must necessarily be some crudeness in pioneer
work, and some failure to see the bearing of all its parts, and
a compiler like Sextus could point out the inconsistencies which
the two centuries since the time of Aenesidemus had made plain.
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