Le aporie della fiducia e i dilemmi del discepolo. Una lettura dell' Ermotimo di Luciano di Samosata

Abstract

In the Ermotimo Lucian ridiculizes the naivety of the disciples who follow a philosophical school. In this paper, through a continuous reading of the text, I show that Luciano, making use of skeptical arguments, highlights the problematic of trust (pistis) as leading “criterion” for the selection of the most credible philosophical doctrine: no teacher can ensure a priori neither the attainment of truth nor happiness. I show that Lucian proposes, to anyone who will take a philosophical path, a different possibility. In it, the credibility of the masters derives not from vague promises, but from their personal consistency, unknown to the so-called philosophers of the time, and the congruence between doctrine and way of life.