Aenesidemus

Aenesidemus
Bornc. 1st century BC
EraHellenistic philosophy
RegionWestern philosophy
SchoolPyrrhonism
Main interests
Skepticism
Notable ideas
The ten modes of Aenesidemus

Aenesidemus (Ancient Greek: Αἰνησίδημος or Αἰνεσίδημος) was a 1st-century BC Greek Pyrrhonist philosopher from Knossos who revived the doctrines of Pyrrho and introduced ten skeptical "modes" (tropai) for the suspension of judgment.[1] He broke with the Academic Skepticism that was predominant in his time, synthesizing the teachings of Heraclitus and Timon of Phlius with philosophical skepticism. Although his primary work, the Pyrrhonian Discourses, has been lost, an outline of the work survives from the later Byzantine empire, and the description of the modes has been preserved by a few ancient sources.