Exploring Skepticism and the Certainty of Existence: From Pyrrho to Augustine
The Skeptical Tradition: Pyrrho and the New Academy
Pyrrho of Elis (360-270 BC), the founder of the first skeptical school, believed in careful examination of observations. His ideas were later adopted by the New Academy and independent thinkers. The Greek word “Skepsis” means “to consider carefully,” and skeptics were known for their meticulous scrutiny. Skepticism has two aspects: a theoretical one, which questions the possibility of certain knowledge, and a practical one, which advocates suspending judgment and achieving ataraxia, or serenity.
The motto of the skeptical movement is “Nothing is more,” meaning nothing is inherently true or false, better or worse. Skeptics argue that since no definitive argument can be made for any truth, the best course of action is to suspend judgment. This leads to ataraxia, a state of mental tranquility and happiness. However, suspending judgment does not mean abandoning inquiry or criticism. While dogmatic philosophers believe they have found the truth, skeptics see themselves as seekers of truth who acknowledge the impossibility of finding absolute certainty. Their primary task is to deconstruct the arguments of dogmatists.
Augustine’s Neoplatonic Approach to Truth and Certainty
Saint Augustine, influenced by Neoplatonism, argued that truth is not found in the external world through the senses but through introspection and reflection. He famously said, “Do not go outside; return into yourself. In the inner man dwells truth.” Augustine’s philosophy, centered on the notion of truth, ultimately leads to the conclusion: Truth is God.
Augustine believed that the search for truth must begin with the evidence of the self. He argued that the self is an undeniable reality: “We are, we know that we are, and we love this being and this knowledge.” Even doubting the truth implies the existence of the doubter, thus providing a foundation for certainty. This dynamic of thought, where the act of doubting itself becomes the basis for certainty, allows the soul to ascend towards the pursuit of truth.
Augustine’s quest for truth goes beyond this initial certainty. He seeks a necessary, immutable, and eternal truth, which cannot be found in the ever-changing objects of the senses. Even the soul, being contingent and changeable, cannot provide such truth. Only God remains as the source of eternal truth. Therefore, the search for truth moves from the external world to the inner self, leading to the discovery of eternal truths that illuminate our understanding of all things. Since these truths cannot originate from the mutable soul or the world, Augustine attributes them to divine illumination, rejecting the Platonic concepts of reminiscence and transmigration of the soul.
Augustine and Descartes: Parallels and Divergences
Augustine’s “If I am mistaken, I am” anticipates Descartes’ famous “Cogito, ergo sum” (I think, therefore I am). However, unlike Descartes, Augustine was not primarily concerned with the existence of the external world. In his Confessions, Augustine states, “I know God and the soul. Nothing more do I desire.” For Descartes, skeptical arguments serve as a method to arrive at self-evident truths upon which knowledge of the world can be built. Both philosophers start from a single truth but with different intentions.
Similar to Augustine’s concept of the self, Descartes’ “cogito” encompasses all activities of consciousness, including doubting, understanding, affirming, denying, desiring, imagining, and feeling. Augustine writes in De Trinitate, “The man who is closest to the mind knows nothing more intimately than his own self-identity.” Similarly, Descartes states in his Second Meditation, “There is nothing easier for me to know than my own mind.”
Love, Existence, and the Image of God
Augustine believed that the love of existence is fundamental to all of nature. No one desires death, and even the most miserable person would choose a life of suffering over non-existence. This love of existence extends to all living things, including animals and plants.
The love of knowledge is evident in the fact that “any sane mind prefers to rejoice in the truth rather than lament in madness.” This love of knowledge is unique to humans. While animals may have more developed senses, only humans are capable of rational knowledge. Augustine suggests that the love of knowledge is superior to any other love because knowledge itself is superior to any other activity.
Augustine believed that God created the world out of love, not out of necessity. Evil arises when humans turn away from God and towards material things. Evil is the negation of love for God. Physical evils, such as diseases, pain, and death, are consequences of original sin, which is a moral evil. “The corruption of the body, which weighs down the soul, is not the cause but the punishment of the first sin… it was not the corruptible flesh that made the soul sinful, but the sinful soul that made the flesh corruptible.” However, within the context of salvation history, even physical evil has a positive meaning.
Happiness, the Search for God, and the Image of God
Ancient ethics often focused on the idea of happiness. However, this can lead to moral relativism, as the perception of happiness varies among individuals. Augustine acknowledges this diversity but also recognizes that the human soul has a “natural place” towards which it gravitates: the One who is truth and good, namely God. “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Deep and genuine love is the true path to seeking and loving God.
The possibility of seeking and loving God is rooted in the very nature of humanity. If we were animals, we could only love physical life and sensory objects. If we were trees, we could not love anything with movement or feeling. But as humans, created in the image of our Creator, who is eternal Truth and eternal Love, we have the potential to return to Him, where our being will not perish and our knowledge will be free from error.
The possibility of returning to God is reflected in the threefold nature of the human being as the image of God: “I am, I know, I will. As I know and love, so I know that I am, and I will to be and to know. In these three things is inseparable life, one life, one mind, one essence. The distinction is inseparable, and yet it exists.” God created humans with this potential, but humans can choose to turn away from it and sin. While being created in the image of God grants humans the ability to reach God, it does not guarantee it. Humans are initially “old men,” external and carnal beings subject to birth, aging, and death. However, they can also become “new men” through spiritual rebirth and attain eternity.