In his book "Against the Logicians", Sextus Empiricus (my f…
In his book "Against the Logicians", Sextus Empiricus (my favorite skeptic) partially preserved a now lost book by my favorite pre-socratic philosopher - Gorgias of Leontinoi. the name of the lost book is "On Nature or The Non-Existence"
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Gorgias argues
1. Nothing exists;
2. Even if something exists, nothing can be known about it; and
3. Even if something can be known about it, knowledge about it can't be communicated to others.
4. Even if it can be communicated, it cannot be understood.
Gorgias concludes that nothing exists in this manner
for if anything exists, either existence or non-existence exists alone, or existence and non-existence exist together. However, neither does existence exist alone...nor does non-existence exist alone...
...nor do existence and non-existence exist together, as he will also instruct. Therefore, nothing exists. And so [to the first argument that] non-existence does not exist: if non-existence exists, then it will both exist and not exist simultaneously,...
for if it is apprehended as non-existence, then it will not exist, and yet if it is non-existence, then, on the contrary, it will exist. But, it would be absurd for something to exist and not exist simultaneously; therefore, non-existence does not exist.
Moreover, if non-existence exists, then existence will not exist, for thèse two are opposed to each other; and if existence is a quality of non-existence, then non-existence will be a quality of existence.
But it is absolutely not true that existence does not exist, and so nor again will non-existence exist.
And [so to the second argument that]existence does not exist: for if existence exists, then it is either eternal or created or simultaneously eternal and created.
However, existence is neither eternal nor created nor both simultaneously, as we will demonstrate; therefore, existence does not exist. If existence is eternal (and one must begin from this point), then it does not have any origin, ...
for all that is created has some origin. But the uncreated eternal has no origin; and having no origin, it is infinite;and if it is infinite, then it is nowhere.For if existence occupies some finite space, then that which contains existence is something..
...other than that same existence; and so existence will no longer be infinite if it is contained by something, for the container is greater than the contained. But nothing is greater than infinity; therefore, the infinite cannot exist any where.
Further, existence is not contained within itself, since then the container and that which is contained will be the same, and existence will become two contradictory things, position and body (position is the container and body the contained).
But this is absurd. And so existence is not contained within itself. Therefore,if existence is eternal, then it is infinite; and if it is infinite, then it is nowhere; and if it is nowhere, then existence does not exist.
Gorgias concludes that nothing exists in this manner
for if anything exists, either existence or non-existence exists alone,
or existence and non-existence exist together. However, neither does existence exist alone...nor does non-existence exist alone...
Thus if existence is eternal, then existence has no origin.