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Agnosticism Epistemology Presupposition Probability
v t e
Skepticism (American English) or scepticism (British English) is
generally any questioning attitude or doubt towards one or more items
of putative knowledge or belief.[1][2] It is often directed at
domains, such as the supernatural, morality (moral skepticism),
religion (skepticism about the existence of God), or knowledge
(skepticism about the possibility of knowledge, or of certainty).[3]
Formally, skepticism as a topic occurs in the context of philosophy,
particularly epistemology, although it can be applied to any topic
such as politics, religion, and pseudoscience.
Philosophical skepticism
Philosophical skepticism comes in various forms. Radical forms of
skepticism deny that knowledge or rational belief is possible and urge
us to suspend judgment on many or all controversial matters. More
moderate forms of skepticism claim only that nothing can be known with
certainty, or that we can know little or nothing about the "big
questions" in life, such as whether God exists or whether there is an
afterlife.
Religious skepticism
Religious skepticism is "doubt concerning basic religious
principles (such as immortality, providence, and revelation)".[4]
Scientific skepticism
Scientific skepticism concerns testing beliefs for reliability, by
subjecting them to systematic investigation using the scientific
method, to discover empirical evidence for them.
Contents
1 Definition
2 Philosophical skepticism
3 Religious skepticism
4
Scientific
Scientific skepticism
5 See also
6 Notes
7 Sources
8 Further reading
9 External links
Definition[edit] In ordinary usage, skepticism (US) or scepticism (UK) (Greek: 'σκέπτομαι' skeptomai, to search, to think about or look for; see also spelling differences) can refer to:
an attitude of doubt or a disposition to incredulity either in general or toward a particular object; the doctrine that true knowledge or some particular knowledge is uncertain; the method of suspended judgment, systematic doubt, or criticism that is characteristic of skeptics (Merriam–Webster).
In philosophy, skepticism can refer to:
a mode of inquiry that emphasizes critical scrutiny, caution, and intellectual rigor; a method of obtaining knowledge through systematic doubt and continual testing; a set of claims about the limitations of human knowledge and the proper response to such limitations.
Philosophical skepticism[edit]
Main article: Philosophical skepticism
As a philosophical school or movement, skepticism originated in
ancient Greece. A number of Greek
Sophists held skeptical views.
Gorgias, for example, reputedly argued that nothing exists, that even
if there were something we couldn’t know it, and that even if we
could know it we could not communicate it.[5] Another Sophist,
Cratylus, refused to discuss anything and would merely wriggle his
finger, claiming that communication is impossible since meanings are
constantly changing.[6] The Sophists’ leading critic, Socrates, also
had skeptical tendencies, claiming that he knew nothing, or at least
nothing worthwhile.[7]
There were two major schools of skepticism in the ancient Greek and
Roman world. One was Pyrrhonian skepticism, which was founded by
Pyrrho of Elis
Pyrrho of Elis (c. 360–270 BCE). The other was Academic skepticism,
so-called because its two leading defenders,
Arcesilaus
Arcesilaus (c. 315–240
BCE) and
Carneades
Carneades (c. 217–128 BCE) were Heads of Plato’s Academy.
Both schools of skepticism denied that knowledge is possible and urged
suspension of judgment (epoche) for the sake of mental tranquility
(ataraxia). The major difference between the schools seems to have
been that Academic skeptics claimed that some beliefs are more
reasonable or probable than others, whereas Pyrrhonian skeptics argued
that equally compelling arguments can be given for or against any
disputed view.[8] Nearly all the writings of the ancient skeptics are
now lost. Most of what we know about ancient skepticism is due to
Sextus Empiricus, a Pyrrhonian skeptic who lived in the second or
third century A.D. His major work, Outlines of Pyrrhonism, contains a
lucid summary of stock skeptical arguments.
Ancient skepticism faded out during the late Roman Empire,
particularly after
Augustine
Augustine (354–430 CE) attacked the skeptics in
his work Against the Academics (386 CE). There was little knowledge
of, or interest in, ancient skepticism in Christian Europe during the
Middle Ages. Interest revived during the Renaissance and Reformation,
particularly after the complete writings of
Sextus Empiricus
Sextus Empiricus were
translated into Latin in 1569. A number of Catholic writers, including
Francisco Sanches
Francisco Sanches (c. 1550–1623),
Michel de Montaigne
Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592),
Pierre Gassendi
Pierre Gassendi (1592–1655), and
Marin Mersenne
Marin Mersenne (1588–1648)
deployed ancient skeptical arguments to defend moderate forms of
skepticism and to argue that faith, rather than reason, must be the
primary guide to truth. Similar arguments were offered later (perhaps
ironically) by the Protestant thinker
Pierre Bayle
Pierre Bayle in his influential
Historical and Critical Dictionary (1697–1702).[9]
The growing popularity of skeptical views created an intellectual
crisis in seventeenth-century Europe. One major response was offered
by the French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes
(1596–1650). In his classic work, Meditations of First Philosophy
(1641), Descartes sought to refute skepticism, but only after he had
formulated the case for skepticism as powerfully as possible.
Descartes argued that no matter what radical skeptical possibilities
we imagine there are certain truths (e.g., that thinking is occurring,
or that I exist) that are absolutely certain. Thus, the ancient
skeptics were wrong to claim that knowledge is impossible. Descartes
also attempted to refute skeptical doubts about the reliability of our
senses, our memory, and other cognitive faculties. To do this,
Descartes tried to prove that God exists and that God would not allow
us to be systematically deceived about the nature of reality. Many
contemporary philosophers question whether this second stage of
Descartes’ critique of skepticism is successful.[10]
In the eighteenth century a powerful new case for skepticism was
offered by the Scottish philosopher
David Hume
David Hume (1711–1776). Hume was
an empiricist, claiming that all genuine ideas can be traced back to
original impressions of sensation or introspective consciousness. Hume
argued forcefully that on empiricist grounds there are no sound
reasons for belief in God, an enduring self or soul, an external
world, causal necessity, objective morality, or inductive reasoning.
In fact, he argued that “
Philosophy
Philosophy would render us entirely
Pyrrhonian, were not Nature too strong for it.”[11] As Hume saw it,
the real basis of human belief is not reason, but custom or habit. We
are hard-wired by nature to trust, say, our memories or inductive
reasoning, and no skeptical arguments, however powerful, can dislodge
those beliefs. In this way, Hume embraced what he called a
“mitigated” skepticism, while rejecting an “excessive”
Pyrrhonian skepticism that he saw as both impractical and
psychologically impossible.
Hume’s skepticism provoked a number of important responses. Hume’s
Scottish contemporary,
Thomas Reid
Thomas Reid (1710–1796), challenged Hume’s
strict empiricism and argued that it is rational to accept
“common-sense” beliefs such as the basic reliability of our
senses, our reason, our memories, and inductive reasoning, even though
none of these things can be proved. In Reid’s view, such
common-sense beliefs are foundational and require no proof in order to
be rationally justified.[12] Not long after Hume’s death, the great
German philosopher
Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) argued that human moral
awareness makes no sense unless we reject Hume’s skeptical
conclusions about the existence of God, the soul, free will, and an
afterlife. According to Kant, while Hume was right to claim that we
cannot strictly know any of these things, our moral experience
entitles us to believe in them.[13]
Today, skepticism continues to be a topic of lively debate among
philosophers.[14]
Religious skepticism[edit]
Main article: Religious skepticism
Religious skepticism
Religious skepticism generally refers to doubting given religious
beliefs or claims. Historically, religious skepticism can be traced
back to Socrates, who doubted many religious claims of the time.
Modern religious skepticism typically emphasizes scientific and
historical methods or evidence, with
Michael Shermer
Michael Shermer writing that
skepticism is a process for discovering the truth rather than general
non-acceptance[clarification needed]. For example, a religious skeptic
might believe that
Jesus
Jesus existed while questioning claims that he was
the messiah or performed miracles (see historicity of Jesus).
Religious skepticism
Religious skepticism is not the same as atheism or agnosticism, though
these often do involve skeptical attitudes toward religion and
philosophical theology (for example, towards divine omnipotence).
Religious people are generally skeptical about claims of other
religions, at least when the two denominations conflict concerning
some stated belief. Additionally, they may also be skeptical of the
claims made by atheists.[15] The historian
Will Durant
Will Durant writes that
Plato
Plato was "as skeptical of atheism as of any other dogma."
Scientific
Scientific skepticism[edit]
Main article:
Skeptical movement §
Scientific
Scientific skepticism
A scientific or empirical skeptic is one who questions beliefs on the
basis of scientific understanding.
Scientific skepticism
Scientific skepticism may discard beliefs pertaining to purported
phenomena not subject to reliable observation and thus not systematic
or testable empirically. Most scientists, being scientific skeptics,
test the reliability of certain kinds of claims by subjecting them to
a systematic investigation using some type of the scientific
method.[16] As a result, a number of claims are considered as
"pseudoscience", if they are found to improperly apply or ignore the
fundamental aspects of the scientific method.
See also[edit]
A Brief History of Disbelief – 3-part
PBS
PBS series (2007)
Critical thinking
Debunker
Debunker (one who exposes claims as being false)
Denialism
Doubt
Richard Popkin
Pseudoskepticism
Scientific
Scientific skepticism
Scientism
Trivialism
Trivialism (opposite of skepticism)
Transactionalism
List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
The Skeptic (UK magazine), founded by Wendy M. Grossman, examines
secularism and the paranormal
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, a non-profit organization to
encourage the investigation of paranormal and fringe-science
Skeptical Inquirer, magazine published by the Committee for Skeptical
Inquiry
The Skeptics Society, a nonprofit organization devoted to resisting
the spread of pseudoscience, superstition, and irrational beliefs
Skeptic (U.S. magazine), magazine of The Skeptics Society
Skepticality
Skepticality a biweekly podcast of US The Skeptics Society's Skeptic
magazine
The Skeptic's Dictionary, a collection of essays by Robert Todd
Carroll
Skeptical movement, a movement based on scientific skepticism, a term
introduced by Carl Sagan
Skeptics in the Pub, a social meet-up group
The Amaz!ng Meeting, an annual conference on science, skepticism, and
critical thinking
Notes[edit]
^ Popkin, R. H. The History of Skepticism from Erasmus to Descartes (rev. ed. 1968); C. L. Stough, Greek Skepticism (1969); M. Burnyeat, ed., The Skeptical Tradition (1983); B. Stroud, The Significance of Philosophical Skepticism (1984). Encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com. ^ "Philosophical views are typically classed as skeptical when they involve advancing some degree of doubt regarding claims that are elsewhere taken for granted." utm.edu ^ Greco, John (2008). The Oxford Handbook of Skepticism. Oxford University Press, US. ISBN 9780195183214. ^ "Definition of SKEPTICISM". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 2016-02-05. ^ W. T. Jones, A History of Western Philosophy. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1952, p. 60 n. 45. ^ Richard H. Popkin, "Skepticism," in Paul Edwards, ed., The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, vol. 7. New York: Macmillan, 1967, p. 449. ^ Allan Hazlett, A Critical Introduction to Skepticism. London: Bloomsbury, 2014, p. 5. ^ Popkin, "Skepticism" p. 450. ^ Richard H. Popkin, The History of Skepticism from Erasmus to Spinoza, rev. ed. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1979, chaps 1 and 2. ^ See, e.g., Popkin, The History of Skepticism, p. 210. ^ Quoted in Popkin, "Skepticism," p. 456. ^ Popkin, "Skepticism," p. 456. ^ Popkin, "Skepticism," p. 457. ^ See, e.g., John Greco, ed., The Oxford Handbook of Skepticism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008. ^ Mann, Daniel. "Skeptical of Atheism". Apologetics for Today. Retrieved 2 December 2013. ^ Skeptoid.com: What is skepticism?
Sources[edit]
A Greek-English Lexicon,
Henry George Liddell
Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott,
revised and augmented throughout by Sir Henry Stuart Jones, with the
assistance of Roderick McKenzie, Clarendon Press, Oxford, UK, 1940.
Online, perseus.tufts.edu.
Butchvarov, Panayot,
Skepticism About the External World (Oxford
University Press, 1998).
Daniels, M.D., D.; Price, PhD, V. (2000), The Essential Enneagram, New
York: HarperCollins
Richard Hönigswald, Die Skepsis in Philosophie und Wissenschaft,
1914, new edition (ed. and introduction by Christian Benne and Thomas
Schirren), Göttingen: Edition Ruprecht, 2008,
ISBN 978-3-7675-3056-0
Keeton, Morris T., "skepticism", pp. 277–278 in Dagobert D.
Runes (ed.), Dictionary of Philosophy, Littlefield, Adams, and
Company, Totowa, NJ, 1962.
Le Morvan, P. Healthy
Skepticism and Practical Wisdom," Logos &
Episteme II, 1 (2011): 87–102 (PDF).
Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language, Second
Edition, Unabridged, W.A. Neilson, T.A. Knott, P.W. Carhart (eds.), G.
& C. Merriam Company, Springfield, MA, 1950.
Further reading[edit]
Wilson, Richard (2009). Don't Get Fooled Again: A Sceptic's Handbook. Icon. ISBN 9781848310520. Popkin, Richard H. (2003). The History of Scepticism : From Savonarola to Bayle. Oxford University Press, US. ISBN 9780198026716. Bury, Robert Gregg (1933). Sextus Empiricus: Outlines of Pyrrhonism. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674993013. Empiricus, Sextus; Annas, Julia; Barnes, Jonathan (2000-07-20). Sextus Empiricus: Outlines of Scepticism. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521778091. Burnyeat, Myles (1983). The Skeptical Tradition. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520037472. Emily Rosa: A Close Look at Therapeutic Touch[1]
External links[edit]
Look up skepticism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Skepticism
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Skeptics.
Skepticism at PhilPapers
Skepticism at the Indiana
Philosophy
Philosophy Ontology Project
Klein, Peter. "Skepticism". In Zalta, Edward N. Stanford Encyclopedia
of Philosophy.
Vogt, Katja. "
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek Skepticism". In Zalta, Edward N. Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Thorsrud, Harald. "
Ancient Greek
Ancient Greek Skepticism". Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy.
Bolyard, Charles. "Medieval Skepticism". In Zalta, Edward N. Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Pritchard, Duncan. "Contemporary Skepticism". Internet Encyclopedia of
Philosophy.
Skeptical
Inquiry
Inquiry at Curlie (based on DMOZ)
"Most
Scientific
Scientific Papers are Probably Wrong", NewScientist, 30 August
2005
Classical
Skepticism by Peter Suber
"Outstanding skeptics of the 20th century" – Skeptical Inquirer
magazine
Links to related articles
v t e
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^ Rosa L; Rosa E; Sarner L; Barrett S (1998-04-01). "A close look at therapeutic touch". JAMA. 279 (13): 1005–1010. doi:10.1001/jama.279.13.1005. ISSN 0098-7484. PMID 95