The Pig in the Storm

How Pyrrhonism, a branch of ancient skepticism, can help us navigate today’s turbulent waters

Can we really know anything?

Right now, it’s hard to tell.

Take, as an example, the biggest public health challenge the world has faced in a long time: COVID-19. Scientists and doctors from different organizations interpreted the virus in contrasting ways. As a result, public health advice varied from country to country. Some governments have been praised for their vigilance, others have been criticized for their laid-back approach … and vice versa.

Even the way in which coronavirus data is presented can radically change our perception of its impact, depending on which factors have been included and which have been discarded.

The confusion over what works and what doesn’t can leave us feeling deeply overwhelmed.

It’s little wonder, then, that in this anxiety-riddled time many are turning to Stoicism and its promise of courage and calm. However, I’d like to recommend something different. Pyrrhonism, a lesser-known philosophy from the same time as Stoicism, argues that we don’t know how things around us really are. Let’s give it a closer look, since this seems to be the very epistemic position we seem to find ourselves in today.