How Skeptical Are You?

Skepticism is a questioning attitude towards knowledge claims seen as mere belief or dogma, motivated by the impression that the available evidence is insufficient to support the claim.

Skepticism is a topic of interest in philosophy, particularly epistemology, but can be applied to any topic, such as politics, religion, or pseudoscience.

Philosophical skepticism is a prominent form of skepticism that rejects knowledge claims that seem certain from the perspective of common sense. Some forms of it even deny that one knows that "I have two hands" or that "the sun will come out tomorrow".

Skepticism has been responsible for important developments in various fields, such as science, medicine, and philosophy. In science, the skeptical attitude toward traditional opinions was a key factor in the development of the scientific method.

Religious skepticism advocates for doubt concerning basic religious principles, such as immortality, providence, and revelation.

Ancient skepticism arose both in ancient Greece and India, and two major schools of skepticism in the ancient Greek and Roman world were Pyrrhonism and Academic Skepticism.

Pyrrhonism's aims are psychological, urging suspension of judgment to achieve mental tranquility. The Academic Skeptics denied that knowledge is possible.

Many contemporary philosophers question whether René Descartes's second stage of critique of skepticism is successful, where he tries to prove that God exists and that God would not allow us to be systematically deceived about the nature of reality.

In the eighteenth century, Scottish philosopher David Hume offered a new case for skepticism, arguing 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.

Skepticism continues to be a topic of lively debate among philosophers, and British philosopher Julian Baggini posits that reason, if used properly, can be an effective tool for solving many larger societal issues.

Religious skepticism can be seen as a form of skepticism that doubts religious doctrines, and some Catholic writers, including Francisco Sanches, Michel de Montaigne, and Pierre Gassendi, 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.

Skepticism is related to various terms such as agnosticism, relativism, dogmatism, blind faith, and credulity.

Skepticism is usually restricted to a claim or a field of inquiry, such as religious and moral skeptics having a doubtful attitude about religious and moral doctrines.Skepticism: A Critical Analysis

Skepticism refers to doubting given religious beliefs or claims.

Religious skepticism can be traced back to Xenophanes, who doubted many religious claims of his time.

Religious skepticism is not the same as atheism or agnosticism, though they often involve skeptical attitudes toward religion.

Religious people are generally skeptical about claims of other religions, at least when the two denominations conflict concerning some stated belief.

Baháʼí Faith encourages skepticism that is mainly centered around self-investigation of truth.

A scientific or empirical skeptic is one who questions beliefs on the basis of scientific understanding and empirical evidence.

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 scientific method.

Professional skepticism is an important concept in auditing.

It requires an auditor to have a "questioning mind", to make a critical assessment of evidence, and to consider the sufficiency of the evidence.

Skepticism is essential in scientific inquiry and critical thinking.

Skepticism is not the same as cynicism, which is a negative attitude towards life and people.