Between Empiricism and Universal Scepticism: Notes on Two Contemporary Interpretive Models of the Gnoseology of Xenophanes of Colophon
Between Empiricism and Universal Scepticism: Notes on Two Contemporary Interpretive Models of the Gnoseology of Xenophanes of Colophon

Summary/Abstract: This paper examines the two contemporary interpretation models of the philosophy of Xenophanes of Colophon formulated by Hermann Fränkel and Ernst Heitsch. It will be demonstrated that both models primarily relate to the two well-established ways of interpreting his gnoseology popular in the doxography of the 2nd and the 3rd C.E. and presented by Sextus Empiricus in a work titled Against the Logicians. The author considered them as two alternative ways of explaining Xenophanes’ skeptical philosophy, which, however, are based on the dif- ferent approaches to the concepts of knowledge and opinion. The discussed inter- pretation models offered by Hermann Fränkel and Ernst Heitsch highlight one way of understanding the gnoseology of the philosopher of Colophon over the other. Therefore, based on Sextus’ approach, further analyses are required to combine the two opposite interpretation models proposed by Hermann Fränkel and Ernst Heitsch, which will take into account the historical, cultural, and philosophical background of the work of Xenophanes.

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