David Hume. Enquiry concerning human understanding (№ 405049)

The main and most compelling objection to excessive skepticism is that it cannot be of long-term benefit as long as it retains all its strength and power. One has only to ask such a skeptic what he actually wants and what he achieves through all this curious research, and he will immediately get lost and will not know what to answer. Followers of Copernicus or Ptolemy, advocating two different systems of astronomy, may hope to lead their listeners to some kind of permanent and enduring conviction. The Stoic or Epicurean lays out principles that not only can be sustainable, but also influence the behavior and way of life of people. The adherent of Pyrrhonism cannot hope that his philosophy will have a permanent influence on the mind, or, if this influence is carried out, the latter will be beneficial to society. On the contrary, he must admit, if he is willing to admit anything at all, that the whole structure of human life would have to undergo destruction if its principles were to gain universal and lasting domination. All conversations, all activities would immediately cease, and people would be in complete lethargy until their miserable existence came to an end due to the dissatisfaction of natural needs. True, such a fatal end can hardly be feared, for nature is always much stronger than principles.