Dunphy, Robert
Junior Fellow: April–September 2020
Research Project: Scepticism and Infinitism in Sextus and Maimon
This project aims to explore the relationship between scepticism and a commitment to ongoing or even infinite inquiry in the work of a number of significant thinkers in the history of epistemology, although without the expectation that this will lead to the discovery of one significant, shared position or common thread. The focus of this fellowship will be the work of Sextus Empiricus and Solomon Maimon.
In the case of Sextus, the project will contribute to the ongoing debate concerning the nature of the Sceptic’s investigation as it is presented in Sextus’s works and its relationship to the claim that a state of tranquillity follows from the Sceptic’s suspension of judgement. The primary goal is to offer a new account of why the Sceptic should be committed to a project of ongoing inquiry. In the case of Maimon, rather than focusing (as is often the case) on the validity or invalidity of his criticisms of Kant, the aim is to examine whether or not Maimon’s rehabilitation of Humean scepticism is compatible with his positive picture of the development towards the goal of a systematically organised body of knowledge. The likely conclusion will be that it is not.
Robert Dunphy studied at the University of Warwick (BA and MA) and the University of Sussex (PhD).