Eliminativism in Ancient Philosophy

Ugo Zilioli is Leverhulme Researcher at the Faculty of Theology and Religion at Oxford University and Associate Member of Lady Margaret Hall, UK.His main publications include: The Cyrenaics (2014), Protagoras and the Challenge of Relativism(2016); as editor, From the Socratics to the Socratic Schools (2015); Atomism in Philosophy: A History from Antiquity to the Present (Bloomsbury, 2020).

• Preface and AcknowledgementsIntroduction: Nothing For Us? 1. Protagoras’ Secret Doctrine: An Exercise in Ancient Eliminativism2. Twins and Dharmas. Protagoras and Vasubandhu on a Two-Tier Ontology of Tropes3. Gorgias and Nagarjuna on Nihilism4. On Things. The Origin and Genealogy of Pyrrho’s Metaphysics 5. The Cyrenaics on Elusive Objects6. The Cyrenaics on Solipsism and PrivacyConclusion: Eliminativism, Indeterminacy and Nihilism Between East and WestNotesReferencesIndex

This book presents an astute comparison between philosophers in ancient Greece and India who, for some reason or another, set out to eliminate material objects from their theories. The highly original, historically rich, and analytically sophisticated discussion presented here will be of great interest to any reader wishing to learn more about fundamental questions of metaphysics, East and West.