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How to Keep an Open Mind
Cover of How to Keep an Open Mind
How to Keep an Open Mind
An Ancient Guide to Thinking Like a Skeptic
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How ancient skepticism can help you attain tranquility by learning to suspend judgment
Along with Stoicism and Epicureanism, Skepticism is one of the three major schools of ancient Greek philosophy that claim to offer a way of living as well as thinking. How to Keep an Open Mind provides an unmatched introduction to skepticism by presenting a fresh, modern translation of key passages from the writings of Sextus Empiricus, the only Greek skeptic whose works have survived.
While content in daily life to go along with things as they appear to be, Sextus advocated—and provided a set of techniques to achieve—a radical suspension of judgment about the way things really are, believing that such nonjudging can be useful for challenging the unfounded dogmatism of others and may help one achieve a state of calm and tranquility. In an introduction, Richard Bett makes the case that the most important lesson we can draw from Sextus's brand of skepticism today may be an ability to see what can be said on the other side of any issue, leading to a greater open-mindedness.
Complete with the original Greek on facing pages, How to Keep an Open Mind offers a compelling antidote to the closed-minded dogmatism of today's polarized world.

How ancient skepticism can help you attain tranquility by learning to suspend judgment
Along with Stoicism and Epicureanism, Skepticism is one of the three major schools of ancient Greek philosophy that claim to offer a way of living as well as thinking. How to Keep an Open Mind provides an unmatched introduction to skepticism by presenting a fresh, modern translation of key passages from the writings of Sextus Empiricus, the only Greek skeptic whose works have survived.
While content in daily life to go along with things as they appear to be, Sextus advocated—and provided a set of techniques to achieve—a radical suspension of judgment about the way things really are, believing that such nonjudging can be useful for challenging the unfounded dogmatism of others and may help one achieve a state of calm and tranquility. In an introduction, Richard Bett makes the case that the most important lesson we can draw from Sextus's brand of skepticism today may be an ability to see what can be said on the other side of any issue, leading to a greater open-mindedness.
Complete with the original Greek on facing pages, How to Keep an Open Mind offers a compelling antidote to the closed-minded dogmatism of today's polarized world.

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About the Author-
  • Richard Bett is professor of philosophy and classics at Johns Hopkins University. He edited The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Scepticism and has published widely on the subject. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
Table of Contents-
  • FrontMatter, pg. i
  • Contents, pg. v
  • Bittersweet, pg. 3
  • Gone, pg. 10
  • Ruse, pg. 12
  • Tactics, pg. 18
  • The Reach, pg. 26
  • Finding the Edge, pg. 30
  • Logic at the Edge, pg. 32
  • Losing the Edge, pg. 39
  • Archilochos at the Edge, pg. 46
  • Alphabetic Edge, pg. 53
  • What Does the Lover Wantjrom Love?, pg. 62
  • Symbolon, pg. 70
  • A Novel Sense, pg. 77
  • Something Paradoxical, pg. 83
  • My Page Makes Love, pg. 86
  • Letters, Letters, pg. 91
  • Folded Meanings, pg. 98
  • Bellerophon Is Quite Wrong After All, pg. 102
  • Realist, pg. 108
  • Ice-pleasure, pg. 111
  • Now Then, pg. 117
  • Erotikos Logos, pg. 123
  • Damage to the Living, pg. 130
  • Midas, pg. 134
  • Cicadas, pg. 138
  • Gardening for Fun and Profit, pg. 141
  • Something Serious Is Missing, pg. 145
  • Takeover, pg. 147
  • Read Me the Bit Again, pg. 151
  • Then Ends Where Now Begins, pg. 154
  • What a Difference a Wing Makes, pg. 159
  • What Is This Dialogue About, pg. 165
  • Mythoplokos, pg. 168
  • Bibliography, pg. 175
  • Index of Passages Discussed, pg. 183
  • General Index, pg. 186
Reviews-
  • Library Journal

    November 15, 1986
    This slim volume consists of numerous brief chapters on various aspects of the Greek concept of Eros, particularly as propounded in lyric poetry (especially that of Sappho) and in Plato's Phaedrus. If the essay has a theme, it is that many Greeks saw Eros as a sense of lack that fruitfully combined both pain and pleasure. This thesis is not new, but the author's style is, combining subtle interpretation with a sometimes startling poetic sensitivity. The result leaves one wondering about the intended audience. The general public may find its textual emphasis and frequently elusive tone an obstacle, while specialists may question the validity of various exegesesor of this theory of Eros, which is only one of many. But overall there is a fine beauty to the work, and it deserves a reading. Thomas M. Robinson, Classics Dept., Univ. of Toronto

  • -Steven Gambardella, The Sophist (Medium) "[How to Keep an Open Mind] gives a modern audience an accessible introduction to the school of thought, and shows us a better way to think about skepticism in a radically polarized world."
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    Princeton University Press
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