John Christian Laursen* Ancient Skepticism and Modern Fiction: Some Political Implications https://doi.org/10.1515/elen-2019-0008 Abstract: This article draws out the political implications of some of the avatars of ancient skepticism in modern fiction. It relies on Martha Nussbaum’s claim that fiction can provide some of the best lessons in moral philosophy to refute her claim that ancient skepticism was a bad influence on morals. It surveys references to skepticism from Shakespeare through such diverse writers as Isabel de Charrière, Herman Melville, Mark Twain, Anatole France, and Albert Camus down to recent writers such as Orhan Pamuk and Michel Houellebecq. The most substantial treatment is of Naguib Mahfouz’s Cairo Trilogy, which is interpreted in two ways: one, as an example of isosthenia or equipollence in arguments on both sides of questions about gender in the Islamic world, and two, as the biography of a person who claims to be a self-conscious skeptic. Skepticism emerges as a multi-faceted concept in modern literature, but there are definite references back to the ancient skeptics, including mention of the name Pyrrhonism and knowledge of the writings of Sextus Empiricus. The political implications militate against dogmatic claims to truth and knowledge of a one-dimensional justice. Keywords: skepticism, modern fiction, politics Ancient skepticism left a legacy in literature, both directly and indirectly. This article examines the political implications of skepticism as portrayed or embo- died in literature. It starts with a review of the debate about the implications of skepticism for politics, summarizes the elements of skepticism that we are looking for, reviews evidence of the influence of skepticism in literature since Shakespeare, and then engages in an extended case study of one of the novels of Naguib Mahfouz. There are two well-known stereotypes about philosophical skepticism. One is that it must inevitably have radical political effects, undermining established institutions and truths. The other is that it must be conservative, leading to political quietism because there is no basis for criticizing established institutions *Corresponding author: John Christian Laursen, University of California, Riverside, USA, E-mail: johnl@ucr.edu Elenchos 2019; 40(1): 199–215 Brought to you by | University of Groningen Authenticated Download Date | 8/8/19 6:00 PM