The philosopher Carneades advocated giving up on ideas of truth and the good life, arguing that we should focus instead on what is plausible.
Obsession and self-medication
The philosopher Carneades was born in Cyrene, home of the Cyrenaic philosophers, sometime around 214 BCE. Like many philosophers of his day in the Greek-speaking world, he moved to Athens so that he could further his studies.
Contemporary accounts of Carneades paint him as an obsessive, single-minded type. He was so engrossed by his studies that he didn’t cut his nails or his hair, and he had to be persuaded to eat because otherwise he would simply forget. Other accounts (not necessarily reliable, but entertaining all the same) say that before engaging in debate, he would lightly poison himself with a dose of hellebore, a toxic plant, so his mind could be sharper.
In Athens, Carneades became a student of the Stoic philosopher Diogenes of Babylon, a pupil of the Stoic philosopher Chrysippus. Carneades was profoundly influenced by the work of Chrysippus and the doctrines of the Stoics, but eventually, he found his philosophical home in the Platonic Academy.
