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Acatalepsy (from theGreekα̉-'privative' andκαταλαμβάνειν'to seize'), inphilosophy, isincomprehensibleness, or theimpossibility ofcomprehending or conceiving some[1] or all things. The doctrine held by the ancient Skeptic philosophers, thathuman knowledge never amounts to certainty, but only toprobability.[2]
ThePyrrhonians attempted to show, whileAcademic skeptics of thePlatonic Academy asserted an absoluteacatalepsia; all humanscience orknowledge, according to them, went no further than to appearances andverisimilitude.[1] It is theantithesis of theStoic doctrine ofkatalepsis or Apprehension.[3] According to the Stoics, katalepsis was true perception, but to the Skeptics, all perceptions were acataleptic, i.e. bear no conformity to the objects perceived, or, if they did bear any conformity, it could never be known.[3]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chambers, Ephraim, ed. (1728).Cyclopædia, or an Universal Dictionary of Arts and Sciences (1st ed.). James and John Knapton, et al.{{cite encyclopedia}}:Missing or empty|title= (help) | This article aboutepistemology is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |