Carneades (c. 214-129 B.C.) Born in Cyrene, North Africa. Carneades was a radical sceptic and the first of the philosophers to pronounce the failure of metaphysicians who endeavored to discover rational meanings in religious beliefs. By the time of 159 B.C. he had started to refute all previous dogmatic doctrines, especially Stoicism, and even the Epicureans whom previous sceptics had spared.
Carneades is known as an Academic Skeptic. He maintained the school's sceptical lines. So great was his stature and authority that after his death it was his philosophy more directly than that of Socrates and Plato that Academics felt required to interpret and defend. He did not published any written version of his arguments, leaving it to his successors (e.g. Clitomachus) to quarrel over their actual philosophical intensions. Carneades' criterion, even in its most refined form, deals only with the subjective appearance of truth. Traditionally it has been regarded as a doctrine of probabilism. Carneades concludes that an impression which meets all these conditions is the one we use in forming judgements about everything that is supremely important to us. (ref. The Hellenistic Philosophers vol. I, A. A. Long & D. N. Sedley, Cambridge University Press, 1999)
More on [ Carneades ]
Skepticism :: Ancient
The Academy :: Ancient
Arcesilaus :: A

Biography.com: Carneades - Very short biography of this later Platonic thinker.
Carneades - Article from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, noting Carneades' contribution to the discourse of the time, and his criterion of plausibility.
Carneades - Very short biographical article from the 2001 Columbia Encyclopedia.
Meta Description: [ Carneades. The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-05 ]
Plutarch: Carneades' Visit to Rome - The Roman historian's account of this Greek philosopher's visit to Rome, during which he argued opposite sides of an argument on successive days, incurring Roman disgust. From the Ancient History Sourcebook.
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