The Causes of Epochē: A Note on Stromateis 8.22.1–4

The majority of the excerpts traditionally taken to derive from a planned book 8 of Clement of Alexandria’s Stromateis concern the theory of demonstration (apodeixis) and related matters of logic. The suspension of judgement (epochē), a recognisably sceptical response to disagreement and a lack of demonstrative certainty, receives two brief treatments in this context. Apart from an attempted refutation of scepticism which points to the allegedly self-refuting character of universal epochē (5.15.2–16.3), the text also includes an account of the causes that lead one to suspend judgement (7.22.1–4). The source of this treatment of scepticism is unknown.2 In his recent edition, translation, and commentary, Matyáš Havrda gives a judicious overview of the scholarly proposals and argues that a liber logicus, perhaps Galen’s lost work On Demonstration (De Demonstratione or Peri Apodeixeōs), could have been the direct or indirect source of parts or the whole of the alleged book 8.3 At the same time, Havrda is not convinced that this material ever made it into a Clementine book. In his view, it is