Sextus Empiricus

A physician who was a contemporary of Galen, and lived in the first half of the third century of the Christian era. Two of his works are extant—Πυρρώνιαι Ὑποτυπώσεις, dealing with the skeptical learning of Pyrrho (q.v.), in three books; and Πρὸς τοὺς Μαθηματικοὺς Ἀντιρρητικοί, in eleven books, against all positive philosophy. The first six books strive to show the falsity of the sciences of grammar, rhetoric, geometry, arithmetic, astrology, and music; the last five attack logic, physics, and ethics. Edited by Fabricius (Leipzig, 1718). See Haas, Leben des Sextus Emp. (1882); id. Ueber die Schriften des Sextus Emp. (1883); and the monographs by Jourdain (1858) and Pappenheim (1878).