Psychiatria pre prax 2/2019

How to Gain Tranquillity? Ataraxia in Philosophy of Pyrrho of Elis

The article presents the key aspects of the teaching of the philosopher Pyrrho of Elis – no doubt one of the main representatives of the Hellenistic era and considered the founder of the philosophical skepticism. Pyrrho’s peculiar way of life, based on the suspension of judgement that leads to tranquillity (ataraxia), continues to astonish more than 2000 years after his death. As the matter of the fact, the teaching of tranquillity or ataraxia remains still alive today. Especially, the interest of the scholars arises due to the hypothesis about non-Greek origin of the Pyrrho’s theory. Pyrrho is often connected with the Eastern tradition of thought, especially with the early Buddhism. Similarities or identity of the Pyrrho’s concept of tranquillity with that of Buddhist nirvana is often discussed. Both of them are characterized as the supreme state of mental peace, which is everlasting and classified as the ultimate goal of human life. In our paper, we aim to show how Pyrrho’s conception of ataraxia would be useful for psychiatric treatment.

Keywords: pyrrhonism, skepticism, ataraxia, epoche, nirvana