Scepticism: The Wisdom of Denial

An Ancient Greek Cure for Anxiety

John Francis Peters, Three Wise Women, 2005 (source: John F Peters, copyright generously waived by the artist)

They say, ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do,’ but the Greek philosopher Carneades had other ideas.

The head of Athens’s famous Academy was dispatched to Rome in 155 B.C.E. on a diplomatic mission. The Romans had fined the Athenians 500 talents for attacking Oropus, a nearby town, and it was up to Carneades and his fellow…