Withdrawn Traces by Sara Hawys Roberts & Leon Noakes

Author:Sara Hawys Roberts & Leon Noakes
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780753545393
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Sceptical theory dates back to 360 bc and encompasses the belief that certain knowledge and fundamental truths are impossible for human beings to attain. One of the first noted sceptics was the Ancient Greek philosopher Pyrrho of Elis, who is cited with creating Pyrrhonism – the first formal approach to scepticism in Western philosophy.

Frustrated by the Dogmatists, a school of philosophers who claimed to possess certain irrefutable knowledge and truth, the Pyrrhonists main epistemological argument was that no belief, theory or view could ever be supported or justified rationally because there would always be doubt. Their answer to living life under this unquestionable doubt was to suspend all judgement and belief, neither affirming any thoughts, feelings or sensations as true, or denying them as false.

Inspired by Socrates’ belief ‘I know that I know nothing’, Pyrrho believed that by suspending his judgement, and by asserting no definite or concrete mind-set to the world around him, he could escape the complexities of everyday life and achieve peace of mind. During Richey’s time in the Priory, he wrote of his own moral dilemma with coming to terms with fundamental truths, pertaining to subject matters like good vs evil, natural law vs civil law, lust vs love and questioning their very foundations and stability within the human psyche.

Pyrrho and many sages since have claimed that when one realises the fragile nature of truth, and the fact that it can never fully be attained, all that is left to do is to achieve a form of enlightenment known as ‘ataraxia’ – a state of tranquillity that comes from the suspension of all beliefs.

‘I can see that some of Richard’s writing on The Holy Bible was teetering towards that kind of scepticism,’ confirms Rachel. ‘When you get lines talking about “Mensa”, “Miller”, “Mailer”, “Plath”, “Pinter”, it may have been him developing that sage wisdom away from Western ideals and dispelling all notions of what was considered intellectual.

‘There was also the line about believing in nothing, and to me that can be seen in a negative or positive light in terms of how he felt at the time. Could he have succumbed to that emptiness and felt quite isolated and alone in that nihilistic space, or could he have attained some semblance of peace as time progressed? Was that why he was getting into Ecclesiastes by the end and finding a way to reconcile himself with this all-consuming futility he felt?’

‘You take an onion and peel it and peel it right to the heart and there’s nothing there. There must be something, you believe there must be. You take another onion and start peeling it. Keep on peeling. At last, nothing. Do you understand the sadness of this monkey?’

The Saga of Dazai Osamu

– quoted in Richey’s Priory notes, 1994

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.