which likewise alters one’s judgment upon the things. What happens
seldom is more highly esteemed than what comes to pass frequently; and
custom brings about the fact that one judges in this way and the other
in that way. Custom is thus made a circumstance which also permits us
to say that things appear so and so to us, but not universally and
generally that they are so.[204] When men say of any particular things
that “this is so,” circumstances may be instanced in which the opposite
predicate is applicable to them also. If, for example, we remain at
the abstraction of the man, does it really signify whether or not we
have a prince?—No. States?—No. A republic?—No, and so on, for they are
here and not there.
k. The tenth trope mainly concerns ethics and is related to manners,
customs and laws. What is moral and legal is likewise not such; for
what is here considered to be right is elsewhere held to be wrong. The
attitude of Scepticism in this regard is to show that the opposite
of what is maintained as valid law holds equally good. As regards
the ordinary understanding respecting the validity of this and that
maxim, _e.g._ that the son has to pay the debts of his father, the
ultimate and indeed only ground lies in its being said that this is
true in its immediacy, for it holds good as law or custom. As against
this the Sceptics likewise prove the opposite, saying for instance,
that the son has, indeed, to undertake the debts of the father by the
law of Rhodes; but in Rome he does not require to do so, if he has
renounced his claim on the paternal goods.[205] As in the existence
of what is determined, which is held to be true because it is, the
opposite is shown to exist; so in the case of laws, if their ground
is that they are in force, their opposite can be demonstrated. The
natural man has no consciousness of the presence of opposites; he lives
quite unconsciously in his own particular way, in conformity with the
morality of his town, without ever having reflected on the fact that he
practises this morality. If he then comes into a foreign land, he is
much surprised, for through encountering the opposite he for the first
time experiences the fact that he has these customs, and he immediately
arrives at uncertainty as to whether his point of view or the opposite
is wrong. For the opposite of what held good to him holds equally good,
and he does not possess any further ground for his practice; so that
since the one holds good equally with the other, neither holds good.
We now see in these modes that, properly speaking, they are not logical
modes at all, nor have they to do with the Notion, for they proceed
directly against empiricism. Something is by immediate certainty given
out as being true, the opposite of this last is from some other point
of view demonstrated to be equally true, and thus its other-being is
set forth as valid. The different modes in which the non-validity of
the first and the validity of the other-being relate to one another,
are ranged under the above heads. If we now classify these ten tropes
in conformity with the plan indicated above by Sextus (p. 347), we find
in the first four tropes the dissimilarity of the object to depend on
the judging subject, because that which judges is either the animal or
the man or one of his senses or particular dispositions in him. Or the
dissimilarity depends on the object, and here we come to the seventh
and tenth tropes, since first the amount makes a thing into something
quite different, and then the code of morals in different places makes
itself the only absolute, excluding and prohibiting any other. The
fifth, sixth, eighth and ninth tropes finally deal with a union of
both sides, or these all together contain the relationship; this is a
demonstration that the object does not present itself in itself, but in
relation to something else.
From content and form we see in these modes their early origin; for
the content, which has only to deal with Being, shows its change only,
takes up only the variability of its manifestation, without showing its
contradiction in itself, _i.e._ in its Notion. But in form they show
an unpractised thought, which does not yet bring the whole of these
examples under their universal points of view, as is done by Sextus,
or which places the universal, relativity, alongside of its particular
modes. On account of their dulness we are not accustomed to lay great
stress on such methods, nor esteem them of any value; but, in fact, as
against the dogmatism of the common human understanding they are quite
valid. This last says directly, “This is so because it is so,” taking
experience as authority. Now through these modes this understanding
will be shown that its belief has contingencies and differences within
it, which at one time present a thing in this way and at another time
in that way; and thereby it will be made aware that it itself, or
another subject, with equal immediacy and on the same ground (on none
at all), says: “It is not so, for it really is the opposite,” Thus the
signification of these tropes has still its value. Should faith or
right be founded on a feeling, this feeling is in me, and then others
may say: “It is not in me.” If one person’s tastes are to be accepted
as authoritative, it is not difficult to demonstrate that another
person’s tastes are utterly opposite, but Being is thereby degraded
into seeming, for in every assurance such as that, the opposite holds
equally good.
2. THE LATER TROPES.
The five other sceptical tropes have an entirely different character,
and it is at once evident that they indicate quite another point of
view and degree of culture as regards philosophic thought; for they
pertain more to thinking reflection, and contain the dialectic which
the determinate Notion has within it. Sextus Empiricus[206] sets them
forth as follows:—
a. The first trope is the diversitude in opinions (ἀπὸ τῆς διαφωνίας),
and that not among animals and men, but expressly among philosophers;
of this matter we have just spoken above (pp. 349, 350). Sextus, and
an Epicurean quoted by Cicero (Vol. I. p. 16), adduce the manifold
nature of dogmas, and from this the conclusion is drawn that the one
has just as much support as the other. Philosophers and others still
make copious use of this sceptical trope, which is consequently in
great favour: on account of the diversitude in philosophies, they
say, Philosophy has no value, and truth is unattainable because men
have thought about it in ways so contradictory. This diversitude
in philosophic opinion is said to be an invincible weapon against
Philosophy; but the category of difference is very barren, and we
have said in the introduction (Vol. I. pp. 17-19) how it is to be
understood. The Idea of Philosophy is to all philosophers one and the
same, even if they themselves are not aware of it; but those who speak
so much of this diversity know as little about it. The true difference
is not a substantial one, but a difference in the different stages
of development; and if the difference implies a one-sided view, as
it does with the Stoics, Epicureans, and Sceptics, in their totality
undoubtedly we first reach truth.
b. A very important trope is that of failing into an infinite
progression (ἡ εἰς ἄπειρον ἔκπτωσις); by it the Sceptics show that the
reason which is brought forward for an assertion itself again requires
a reason, and this again another, and so on into infinitude; from this
suspension of judgment thus likewise follows, for there is nothing
which can furnish a solid foundation. Consequently no permanent ground
can be pointed out, for each continues to press further and further
back, and yet finally a cessation must be made. In more recent times
many have plumed themselves on this trope, and, in fact, it is as
regards the understanding and the so-called syllogism (_supra_, pp.
222, 223), a trope of great force. For if deduction from reasons is
made the power of knowledge, we must, on the other hand, remember that
by so doing we have premises which are quite ungrounded.
c. The trope of Relationship, the relativity of determinations (ὀ ἀπὸ
τοῦ πρός τι), has already been found among those mentioned above (p.
353). It is that what is maintained shows itself as it appears, partly
merely in relation to the judging subject and partly to other things,
but not as it is in itself by nature.
d. The fourth trope is that of Pre-supposition (ὀ ἐξ ὑποθέσεως): “When
the dogmatists see that they are thrown back into the infinite, they
put forward something as principle which they do not prove, but wish to
have conceded to them simply and without proof:” that is an axiom. If
the dogmatist has the right to pre-suppose an axiom as unproved, the
sceptic has equally the right, or, if we choose to say so, equally no
right, to pre-suppose the opposite as unproved. One is as good as the
other. Thus all definitions are pre-suppositions. For instance, Spinoza
pre-supposes definitions of the infinite, of substance, of attribute,
&c.; and the rest follows consistently from them. Nowadays men prefer
to give assurances and speak of facts of consciousness.
e. The last trope is that of Reciprocity (διάλληλος), or proof in a
circle. “That which is dealt with is grounded on something which itself
again requires something else as its ground; now that which has been
said to be proved by it is used for this purpose, so that each is
proved through the other.” When we would avoid infinite progression
and the making of pre-suppositions, we use again that which was proved
to prove its own proof. To the question, “What is the ground of the
phenomenon?” the reply is “Power,” but this is itself merely deduced
from the moments of the phenomenon.
Now Sextus shows (Pyrrh. Hyp. I. c. 15, §§ 169-177) in the following
way that, speaking generally, all sceptical investigations pass into
these five modes of reasoning; and from this it is likewise clear that
Scepticism is not really a reasoning against anything from reasons
which can be found, which quick-wittedness discovers in the particular
object, but that it has a profound knowledge of the categories. (α)
“The object before us is either one felt” (according to Epicurus),
“or one thought” (according to the Stoics). “But however it may be
determined, there always is a difference of opinion respecting it,”
and specially of sophic opinions. This is the first trope. “For some
believe what is felt and others what is thought to be alone the truth,”
_i.e._ the criterion; “others, however, again accept partly what is
thought and partly what is felt.” There consequently is a contradiction
present here. “Now is it possible to harmonize this contradiction
or not? If not, we must withhold our judgment. But if it is to be
solved, the question is, ‘How shall we decide?’” What is to contain the
criterion, the standard, the implicit? “Is what is felt to be judged
by what is felt, or by what is thought?” (β) Either side, individually
considered as the implicit, passes, according to the Sceptics, into
the infinite; but this is a description which must necessarily be
proved on its own account. “If what is felt is to be judged by what is
felt, it is allowed (since feeling is in question) that this sensation
requires another sensation as its reason;” for the conviction of its
truth is not without contradiction. “But if that which constitutes the
reason is again a feeling, that which is said to be a reason must have
a reason just as much; thus we go on into infinitude”—and here we have
the second trope. The case is, however, similar if what is thought is
the criterion, or if the implicit is made to rest on it. “If to what
is thought is given the power of judging what is felt, this likewise,
since it is that respecting which no harmony prevails, requires another
as its ground. This reason is, however, something thought likewise, and
it again requires a reason; thus this, too, passes into the infinite.”
From effect men thus reach cause; nevertheless this too is not
original, but is itself an effect; and so on. But if men thus progress
into infinitude, they have no first original ground to stand on, for
what is accepted as first cause is itself merely effect; and since they
merely progress continually, it is implied that no ultimate is posited.
The false belief that this progression is a true category, is also to
be found in Kant and Fichte; but there is really no true ultimate,
or, what is the same, no true first. The understanding represents
infinite progression as something great; but its contradiction is that
men speak of a first cause and it is then shown that it is only an
effect. Men only attain to the contradiction and constant repetition
of the same, but not to the solution of it, and consequently to the
true _prius_. (γ) But should this endless progression not satisfy
us—which the Sceptics indeed perceived—and therefore have to be put
a stop to, this may happen by what is or what is felt having its
foundation in thought, and, on the other hand, by likewise taking for
the foundation of thought that which is felt. In this way each would be
founded without there having been a progression into infinitude; but
then that which founds would also be that which is founded, and there
would merely be a passing from one to the other. Thus, in the third
place, this falls into the trope of Reciprocity, in which, however,
there is no more than there was before any true foundation. For in
it each merely exists through the other, neither is really set forth
absolutely, but each is the implicit only for the other, and this is
self-abrogation. (δ) But if this is avoided by an unproved axiom which
is taken as an implicit fact, a first and absolute ground, this way
of arguing falls into the mode of Pre-supposition—the fourth trope.
But if an assumption such as this were to be allowed, it would also be
legitimate for anyone to assume the contrary. Thus against the absolute
assertion of idealism, “The Absolute is the I,” it is with equal force
maintained that “The Absolute is existence.” The one man says in the
immediate certainty of himself: “I am absolute to myself;” another man
likewise in certainty of himself says, “It is absolutely certain to
me that things exist.” Idealism did not prove the former, nor did it
destroy the latter; it takes its stand alongside of it, and only bases
its assertions on its own principle. Everything, however, then, comes
round to this, that because the ‘I’ is absolute, the ‘not-I’ cannot
be absolute. On the other hand it may be said as justly: “Because the
thing is absolute, the ‘I’ cannot be absolute.” If it is legitimate,
Sextus further says, immediately to pre-suppose something as unproved,
it is absurd to pre-suppose anything else as proof of that on whose
behalf it is pre-supposed; we only require to posit straightway the
implicit existence of that which is in question. But as it is absurd
to do so, so also is the other absurd. Men set to work in the finite
sciences in a similar way. But when, as in a dogmatism like this, a
man asserts his right of pre-supposing something, every other man has
equally the right of pre-supposing something. Consequently the modern
immediate revelation of the subject now appears. It does no good for
any man to affirm, for example, that he finds in his consciousness that
God exists; since anyone has the right to say that he finds in his
consciousness that God does not exist. In modern times men have not got
very far with this immediate knowledge—perhaps not further than the
ancients, (ε) In the fifth place everything perceived has, according
to the trope of Relationship, a relation to something else, to what
perceives; its Notion is just that of being for another. The same
holds good with what is thought; as the universal object of thought it
likewise has the form of being something for another.
If we sum this up in a general way, the determinate, whether it is
existent or thought, is (α) really, as determinate, the negative of
another, _i.e._ it is related to another and exists for the same, and
is thus in relationship; in this everything is really exhausted. (β) In
this relationship to another this last, posited as its universality,
is its reason; but this reason, as opposed to that which is proved,
is itself a determinate, and consequently has its reality only in
what is proved. And for the reason that I really again consider this
universal as a determinate, it is conditioned by another like the one
that goes before, and so on into infinity. (γ) In order that this
determinate for which, as in consciousness, the other is, should have
existence, this other must exist, for in this it has its reality;
and because this its object is likewise for another, they mutually
condition each other and are mediated through one another, neither
being self-existent. And if the universal as the basis has its reality
in the existent, and this existent its reality in the universal, this
forms the Reciprocity whereby what in themselves are opposites mutually
establish one another. (δ) But what is implicit is something which is
not mediated through another; as the immediate, that is because it is,
it is, however, an Hypothesis. (ε) Now if this determinate is taken as
pre-supposed, so also may another be. Or we might say more shortly that
the deficiency in all metaphysics of the understanding lies partly in
(α) the Demonstration, by which it falls into the infinite; and partly
in (β) the Hypotheses, which constitute an immediate knowledge.
These tropes thus form an effective weapon against the philosophy
of the ordinary understanding, and the Sceptics directed them with
great acuteness, sometimes against the common acceptation of things,
and sometimes against principles of philosophic reflection. These
sceptical tropes, in fact, concern that which is called a dogmatic
philosophy—not in the sense of its having a positive content, but as
asserting something determinate as the absolute; and in accordance
with its nature, such a philosophy must display itself in all these
forms. To the Sceptics, the Notion of dogmatic philosophy is in
effect that something is asserted as the implicit; it is thus opposed
to idealism by the fact of its maintaining that an existence is the
absolute. But there is a misunderstanding or a formal understanding in
considering that all philosophy that is not Scepticism is Dogmatism.
Dogmatism, as the Sceptics quite correctly describe it, consists in
the assertion that something determinate, such as ‘I’ or ‘Being,’
‘Thought’ or ‘Sensation,’ is the truth. In the talk about idealism,
to which dogmatism has been opposed, just as many mistakes have
been made, and misunderstandings taken place. To the criticism which
knows no implicit, nothing absolute, all knowledge of implicit
existence as such is held to be dogmatism, while it is the most wanton
dogmatism of all, because it maintains that the ‘I,’ the unity of
self-consciousness, is opposed to Being, is in and for itself, and
that the implicit in the outside world is likewise so, and therefore
that the two absolutely cannot come together. By idealism that is
likewise held to be dogmatism in which, as is the case in Plato and
Spinoza, the absolute has been made the unity of self-consciousness and
existence, and not self-consciousness opposed to existence. Speculative
philosophy thus, indeed, asserts, but does not assert a determinate;
or it cannot express its truth in the simple form of a proposition,
although Philosophy is often falsely understood as pre-supposing an
original principle from which all others are to be deduced. But though
its principle can be given the form of a proposition, to the Idea what
pertains to the proposition as such is not essential, and the content
is of such a nature that it really abrogates this immediate existence,
as we find with the Academicians. As a matter of fact, that which is
now called a proposition, absolutely requires a mediation or a ground;
for it is an immediate determinate that has another proposition in
opposition to it, which last is again of a similar nature, and so on
into infinitude. Consequently, each, as being a proposition, is the
union of two moments between which there is an inherent difference,
and whose union has to be mediated. Now dogmatic philosophy, which has
this way of representing one principle in a determinate proposition as
a fundamental principle, believes that it is therefore universal, and
that the other is in subordination to it. And undoubtedly this is so.
But at the same time, this its determinateness rests in the fact that
it is _only_ universal; hence such a principle is always conditioned,
and consequently contains within it a destructive dialectic.
As against all these dogmatic philosophies, such criticism and idealism
not excepted, the sceptical tropes possess the negative capacity of
demonstrating that what the former maintain to be the implicit is not
really so. For implicitude such as this is a determinate, and cannot
resist negativity, its abrogation. To Scepticism is due the honour
of having obtained this knowledge of the negative, and of having so
definitely thought out the forms of negativity. Scepticism does not
operate by bringing forward what is called a difficulty, a possibility
of representing the matter otherwise; that would merely indicate some
sort of fancy which is contingent as regards this asserted knowledge.
Scepticism is not an empiric matter such as this, for it contains a
scientific aim, its tropes turn on the Notion, the very essence of
determinateness, and are exhaustive as regards the determinate. In
these moments Scepticism desires to assert itself, and the Sceptic
therein recognizes the fancied greatness of his individuality; these
tropes prove a more cultivated dialectic knowledge in the process of
argumentation than is found in ordinary logic, the logic of the Stoics,
or the canon of Epicurus. These tropes are necessary contradictions
into which the understanding falls; even in our time progression into
infinitude and pre-supposition (immediate knowledge) are particularly
common (_supra_, p. 363).
Now, speaking generally, this is the method of Scepticism, and it
is most important. Because the sceptical conscience demonstrates
that in all that is immediately accepted there is nothing secure and
absolute, the Sceptics have taken in hand all particular determinations
of the individual sciences, and have shown that they are not fixed.
The further details of this application to the different sciences do
not concern us here: this far-seeing power of abstraction is also
requisite in order to recognize these determinations of negation or
of opposition everywhere present in all concrete matter, and in all
that is thought, and to find in this determinate its limits. Sextus,
for example, takes up the individual sciences concretely, thereby
demonstrating much capacity for abstraction, and he shows in all their
determinations the opposite of themselves. Thus he sets the definitions
of mathematics against one another, and that not externally, but as
they are in themselves; he lays hold of the fact (adv. Math. III.
20-22) that there is said to be a point, space, line, surface, one,
&c. We unquestioningly allow the point to rank as a simple unit in
space, according to which it has no dimension; but if it has no
dimension, it is not in space, and therefore is no longer a point. On
the one hand it is the negation of space, and, on the other, inasmuch
as it is the limit of space, it touches space. Thus this negation of
space participates in space, itself occupies space, and thus it is in
itself null, but at the same time it is also in itself a dialectic.
Scepticism has thus also treated of ideas which are, properly speaking,
speculative, and demonstrated their importance; for the demonstration
of the contradiction in the finite is an essential point in the
speculatively philosophic method.