κα′ περὶ τοῦ ‘τάχα᾿ · καὶ τοῦ ‘ἔξεστι᾿ · καὶ τοῦ ‘ἐνδέχεται᾿.

[194] Τὸ δὲ ‘τάχα’ καὶ ‘οὐ τάχα καὶ ‘ἔξεστι’ καὶ ‘οὐκ
ἔξεστι᾿ καὶ ‘ἐνδέχεται’ καὶ ‘οὐκ ἐνδέχεται’ παραλαμβάνομεν ἀντὶ τοῦ ‘τάχα μὲν ἔστιν τάχα δ’ οὐκ ἔστιν’ καὶ, ἔξεστι μὲν εἶναι ἔξεστι δὲ μὴ εἶναι’ καὶ ‘ἐνδέχεται μὲν εἶναι ἐνδέχεται δὲ μὴ εἶναι’ ὡς παραλαμβάνειν ἡμᾶς συντομίας χάριν τὸ ‘μὴ ἐξεῖναι’ ἀντὶ τοῦ ‘ἐξεῖναι μὴ εἶναι᾿ καὶ τὸ ‘μὴ
ἐνδέχεσθαι᾿ ἀντὶ τοῦ ‘ἐνδέχεσθαι μὴ εἶναι’ καὶ τὸ ‘οὐ τάχα ἀντὶ ‘τοῦ τάχα μὴ εἶναι’.

[195] πάλιν δὲ ἐνταῦθα οὐ φωνομαχοῦμεν, οὐδὲ εἰ φύσει ταῦτα δηλοῦσιν αἱ φωναί, ζητοῦμεν, ἀλλ’ ἀδιαφόρως αὐτάς, ὡς εἶπον, παραλαμβάνομεν. ὅτι μέντοι αὗται αἱ φωναὶ ἀφασίας εἰσὶ δηλωτικαί, πρόδηλον, οἶμαι.
ὁ γοῦν λέγων ‘τάχα ἔστιν’ δυνάμει τίθησι καὶ τὸ μάχεσθαι δοκοῦν αὐτῷ, τὸ ‘τάχα μὴ εἶναι’. τῷ μὴ διαβεβαιοῦσθαι περὶ τοῦ εἶναι αὐτό. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἔχει.

Pyrrhoniae Hypotyposes. Sextus Empiricus. ed. Hermann Mutschmann. Germany. 2014.

Current edition First1KGreek

Pyrrhoniae Hypotyposes (Greek) (Sextus Empiricus. Sexti Empiricii Opera, Volume 1. Mutschmann, Hermann, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1912.)

Translations (1)

Outlines of Pyrrhonism First1KGreek (Sextus Empiricus, Vol. 1. Bury, Robert Gregg, translator. London: William Heinemann Ltd.; New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1933.) — 1.21 focus

Chapter XXI.—Of The Expressions ‟Perhaps,‟Possible,” And ‟Maybe”

[194] The formulae ‟perhaps” and ‟perhaps not,” and ‟possibly” and ‟possibly not,” and ‟maybe” and ‟maybe not,” we adopt in place of ‟perhaps it is and perhaps it is not,” and ‟possibly it is and possibly it is not,” and ‟maybe it is and maybe it is not,” so that for the sake of conciseness we adopt the phrase ‟possibly not” instead of ‟possibly it is not,” and ‟maybe not” instead of ‟maybe it is not,” and ‟perhaps not” instead of ‟perhaps it is not.”

[195] But here again we do not fight about phrases nor do we inquire whether the phrases indicate realities, but we adopt them, as I said,¹ in a loose sense. Still it is evident, as I think, that these expressions are indicative of non-assertion. Certainly the person who says ‟perhaps it is” is implicitly affirming also the seemingly contradictory phrase ‟perhaps it is not” by his refusal to make the positive assertion that ‟it is.” And the same applies to all the other cases.

Notes on the current edition

Pyrrhoniae hypotyposes

1. 31 post κοινῶς inser. τε L 1 ἄρνησιν AB 2/3 σημαῖνον (sic) L 5 ἐλέγομεν T (dicebamus) 6 οὔτε T (neque): οὐδὲ G
τοῦ ἀδήλου dub. Bekk. 22 μονομαχοῦμεν EAB 23 ταὐτὰ Pappenheim dubit.

Sextus Empiricus Pyrrhoniae Hypotyposes 1.21

ed. Hermann Mutschmann

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κα′ περὶ τοῦ ‘τάχα᾿ · καὶ τοῦ ‘ἔξεστι᾿ · καὶ τοῦ ‘ἐνδέχεται᾿.

Current edition First1KGreek

Chapter XXI.—Of The Expressions ‟Perhaps,‟Possible,” And ‟Maybe”

Notes on the current edition

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