000002003 001__ 2003 000002003 005__ 20250829130744.0 000002003 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.6082/uchicago.2003 000002003 041__ $$aeng 000002003 245__ $$aPhilosophy and Everyday Life: Thompson Clarke and the Legacy of Skepticism 000002003 260__ $$bUniversity of Chicago 000002003 269__ $$a2019-08 000002003 300__ $$a360 000002003 336__ $$aDissertation 000002003 502__ $$bPh.D. 000002003 520__ $$aPhilosophy and Everyday Life is the first monograph in English on the thought of Thompson Clarke (1928–2012). The essay has both (a) exegetical and (b) systematic ambitions. (a) It provides the first close reading in the literature of Clarke’s seminal paper “The Legacy of Skepticism,” the brilliance of which is matched by its near-impenetrable density. I defend an interpretation of “Legacy” that puts Clarke at odds with perhaps his greatest admirer, Barry Stroud, whose work can be read as a multifaceted exploration of ideas and problems inspired by Clarke. Reading “Legacy” through the lens of Stroud suggests what I call ‘the Dissolutionist Reading,’ which views Clarke as attempting to ‘dissolve’ the skeptical challenge. Against that, I propose what I call ‘the Pyrrhonian Reading,’ which develops Myles Burnyeat’s suggestion that Michael Frede’s interpretation of Pyrrhonism is ‘Clarkean.’ On the Pyrrhonian Reading, Clarke’s reflections on skepticism end not with dissolution, but with suspension of judgment. (b) I contend, further, that traditional epistemology still has a great deal to learn from both Clarke and Pyrrhonism. On the Pyrrhonian Reading, Clarke is best understood as arguing that the legacy of (modern, Cartesian) skepticism is (ancient, Pyrrhonian) skepticism. This reorientation involves divorcing global skeptical problematics from the dogmatic assumptions of Cartesianism, locating them instead in the ancient conceptual framework that I refer to as ‘the metaphysical appearance–reality distinction.’ 000002003 542__ $$fUniversity of Chicago dissertations are covered by copyright. 000002003 650__ $$aPhilosophy 000002003 653__ $$aEpistemology 000002003 653__ $$aMetaphysics 000002003 653__ $$aPyrrhonism 000002003 653__ $$aSkepticism 000002003 690__ $$aHumanities Division 000002003 691__ $$aPhilosophy 000002003 7001_ $$aEichorn, Roger Edward$$uUniversity of Chicago 000002003 72012 $$aJames Conant 000002003 72014 $$aDavid Finkelstein 000002003 72014 $$aAnubav Vasudevan 000002003 8564_ $$92e2c7fe5-4d25-4bd4-b67f-4ac3fedace7f$$s4145588$$uhttps://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/2003/files/Eichorn_uchicago_0330D_14966.pdf$$eEmbargo (2021-09-04) 000002003 909CO $$ooai:uchicago.tind.io:2003$$pDissertations$$pGLOBAL_SET 000002003 983__ $$aDissertation