Lesson · 4 min Steady
Suspend Judgment
In one line When the case for and against seem equally strong, holding off can bring more calm than forcing a verdict.
Pyrrho of Elis, who lived around 300 BCE, wrote nothing, but his followers made him the model of a calm life. Centuries later Sextus Empiricus, a Greek doctor, set out the method in his Outlines of Pyrrhonism. Skepticism, he wrote, is the ability to set appearances and arguments against each other.
When opposed claims seem to have equal force, the skeptic suspends judgment, called epoche. Tranquility, ataraxia, then follows, as a shadow follows a body. Sextus told of the painter Apelles, who could not paint a horse’s foam, threw his sponge at the picture in frustration, and found that it left the foam.
The skeptic still acts, guided by appearances, feelings, custom and the skills of a trade. What is given up is the claim to know how things really are.
Go deeper
Pyrrhonists set themselves apart from two other camps. Dogmatists claim to have found the truth. Academic skeptics, as Sextus described them, claimed that truth cannot be found. The Pyrrhonist says neither and keeps inquiring, which is what the Greek word skeptikos, one who looks, suggests. Ancient critics asked whether anyone can live without beliefs. Sextus replied that he goes along with how things appear, such as that honey seems sweet, without claiming it is sweet by nature.
The diet debate
Mira reads two careful reviews on whether a popular diet works. One finds benefits, the other finds none, and both look sound. She has been arguing about it with her brother for weeks.
She decides she does not know, and says so. She keeps eating as her doctor suggests and drops the nightly argument. To her surprise she feels lighter, and she keeps an eye out for new studies.
Try this today Pick one open question you argue about, write the best case on each side, and see if you can let it rest.
Cite or share this lesson
A plain reference you can paste into notes or an essay:
Quest2Reason. “Suspend Judgment.” https://quest2reason.com/learn/lesson/suspend-judgment. Accessed 13 November 2026.
Sources
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Sextus Empiricus” — Covers the Outlines of Pyrrhonism, suspension of judgment, tranquility and living by appearances.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Ancient Skepticism” — Covers Pyrrho, the Pyrrhonist revival, the Academic skeptics and the modes of Agrippa.