Gatiatullina E.R. Hellenistic Skepticism and the Postmodern Identity Crisis

Abstract: Philosophy of history usually considers differences between epicurean, stoic and skeptical directions in Hellenistic philosophy whereas ancient skepticism localized in Pyrrho;s teaching and his followers’ doctrine is often viewed as a certain kind of relativism and agnosticism. The author makes an original attempt to pay attention to their common features that, probably without being critical for their epoch, become essential in historical perspective and allow us to view an interesting dialogue of epochs partitioned by about two millenniums. Taking into account that ancient world is the origin of Neo-European mankind, contemporary society, being is built on post-modernistic truth demonopolization, is rooted in Hellenistic epoch, the undoubted philosophic merit of which was the review of the relationship between thought and reality, nature and criteria of true knowledge. Hellenistic philosophy, being characterized first of all by “internal emigration”, out-of-the-way, even not anthropological, but “existential” turn of philosophical thought, individualistic and eudemonistic directions, in many ways anticipated modern epistemological, ethical and socio-philosophical ideas. Meanwhile its representatives viewed in broad historical context will turn out to be not “marginal” thinkers of their epoch but true prophets of the world’s philosophical thought.

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