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Wellsprings
epistemology

Suspension of Judgment

ἐποχή

The Skeptic's deliberate refusal to commit — neither affirming nor denying, but suspending judgment when the evidence on both sides looks evenly matched.

Epoché is the deliberate suspension of judgment about whether something is true or false, a central practice of ancient skeptical philosophy. Rather than committing to beliefs that cannot be proven with certainty, the skeptic withholds assent. This approach originated with thinkers like Pyrrho of Elis and was developed further by the Pyrrhonian skeptical school. The goal was not nihilism but intellectual honesty—refusing to assert what cannot be known for certain.

The skeptic who practices epoché enters a state of mental rest and tranquility precisely because they stop struggling to resolve unanswerable questions. By neither affirming nor denying uncertain propositions, the mind finds relief from the anxiety of false conviction. This calm state, called ataraxia, follows naturally from epoché. Rather than endlessly debating whether the gods exist or whether virtue can be taught, the practitioner simply suspends judgment and discovers peace in accepting the limits of human knowledge.

Where this idea shows up

15 Greek sources

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