Benson Mates (May 19, 1919 in Portland, Oregon – May 14, 2009 in Berkeley, California) was an American philosopher at the University of California, Berkeley, noted for his work in logic, the history of philosophy, and skepticism.
He remained Professor Emeritus of philosophy at University of California at Berkeley until his death.
[2] In his own philosophical work, Mates defends a stance akin to Pyrrhonian skepticism.
He argues that the major problems of philosophy (such as the liar paradox, the existence of an external world, and free will) are intelligible and non-trivial yet utterly defy solution.
[3] Unlike the classical Pyrrhonists, however, Mates finds that skeptical arguments lead to unsatisfactory perplexity rather than ataraxia.