The prehistory of modern scepticism: Sextus Empiricus in fifteenth-century Italy

• Gian Mario Cao ^[1]
  1. [1] Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa
• Localización: Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, ISSN 0075-4390, Nº 64, 2001, págs. 229-280
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The writer examines the presence of the writings of Sextus Empiricus in 15th-century Italy. He argues that the Italian Quattrocento belongs to the prehistory rather than the history of modern skepticism. He bases this thesis on the undisputable value of the textual revival of Sextus Empiricus in 15th-century Italy and the undeniable failure of the philosophical perspective he propagandized. He goes on to consider the presence of Sextus's works in Renaissance book inventories and in the main 15th-century Italian collections. He focuses on the Sextus manuscripts owned by Francesco Filelfo and Cardinal Bessarion, and the Sextus text in the library of the Dominican Convent of San Marco, known as the Medici public library. Examining the marginalia entered in these texts, he maintains that in regard to Sextus, the 15th century witnessed a revival only of skeptical texts rather than skeptical philosophy.