Abstract

Arguments from conflicting appearances are almost as ancient as philosophy itself, and in a sense the whole thrust of Burnyeat's essay is to emphasize the curious fact of the continual appearance of such arguments throughout the history of philosophy. The premise of conflicting appearances has led on the one hand to relativistic views of knowledge and sometimes beyond these to skepticism. On the other hand, however, the same premise drove Plato to the conclusion that knowledge could never be perceptual, and Bradley to the affirmation of a necessary Absolute.