Los Filósofos Esporádicos: Una Actitud Hacia El Conocimiento

Book IX of the Lives of Diogenes Laertius is a must-read for those interested in ancient skepticism. Indeed, it contains the biographies of the founding figures of the skeptical movement, Pyrrho and Timon, which also constitute one of the few extant sources for the study of their thought. However, the focus of this article will not be on these thinkers. What is interesting for my purposes is to investigate the reasons that led Diogenes Laertius to group together a series of personalities in Book IX to link them, in some way, to the Pyrrhonian skeptical tradition. The focus of this text will be, specifically, on a duo of philosophers who inaugurates the book. To do so, I will begin by introducing these thinkers and the reasons why their position at the head of Book IX, with a peculiar appellation, is particularly special. I will then attempt to explain the rationale for this appellation, or rather, what we might understand its use to convey. I will then attempt to connect the content of the appellation with what we know about these thinkers, and finally conclude with a possible explanation of their affiliation with the skeptical tradition.