It is belief that hurts, not the world.
The sceptic gets cold and hungry like anyone else. What he is spared is the second layer — the conviction that cold is bad in its nature — and that layer is where most suffering lives.
This is the diagnosis behind the therapy. The sceptic accepts that he is cold, thirsty and afraid; what he refuses is the additional judgement that these things are by nature bad, and Sextus argues that the additional judgement is what turns discomfort into distress. It is close enough to the Buddhist analysis of the second arrow that scholars have argued about contact through Pyrrho's Indian journey, without settling it. The obvious objection — that living with no beliefs at all is impossible — was made in antiquity and is still the main charge against the school.
The same ground, other faiths
claims that share this one's ideasSign in to open the first thread. Everything here is attributed.