Monday 19 December 2011

Skepticism

The demand of knowledge has always been the first concern of philosophy. It is related to the concept of truth, which in turn constitutes the basics of human life. However, questioning that truth has never been accepted by the great occidental philosophers until the Greek sophists and the skeptical schools appeared and shaped this idea. So liberating the mind from the ideas that maintained the indubitable knowledge of truth and cognitive certainty was by no means a modern theory presented by Descartes, and actually it formed the classical dogma of classical philosophy with Aristotle, and with particular emphasis in St. Augustine and all over medieval philosophy. (Seifert, Josef. "From Relativism and Skepticism to Truth and Certainty." Truth Journal. 2002). So how do we define skepticism, And what is the position of skepticism on the subject of truth and certainty of knowledge?


To be a skeptic is simply to doubt any sort of certainty about truth and reality. It is about rejecting any beliefs in things that have not been appropriately shown to exist or demonstrated to happen. Whether or not that assumption is accepted depends on whether or not you believe the thing in question, but this is not up to science to decide. Those truths that follow from the modern science are not necessarily illustrations of indubitable certainty.

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