Skepticism | Definition, Philosophy, Examples, History, & Criticism ...
Dec 23, 2024 · skepticism, in Western philosophy, the attitude of doubting knowledge claims set forth in various areas. Skeptics have challenged the adequacy or reliability of these claims by asking what principles they are based upon or what they actually establish.
Skepticism Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary
SKEPTICISM meaning: an attitude of doubting the truth of something (such as a claim or statement)
Skepticism - Philosophical, Scientific, Modern | Britannica
Dec 23, 2024 · Skepticism - Philosophical, Scientific, Modern: In the 19th century, irrational skepticism was developed into existentialism, a school of philosophy that emphasizes the concrete and problematic character of human existence.
Epistemology - Ancient Skepticism | Britannica
Dec 17, 2024 · The first, Academic Skepticism, arose in the Academy (the school founded by Plato) in the 3rd century bce and was propounded by the Greek philosopher Arcesilaus (c. 315–c. 240 bce), about whom Cicero (106–43 bce), Sextus Empiricus (flourished 3rd century ce), and Diogenes Laërtius (flourished 3rd century ce) provide information.
skepticism summary | Britannica
skepticism, Philosophical doubting of knowledge claims in various areas. From ancient to modern times, skeptics have challenged accepted views in metaphysics, science, morals, and religion.
Skepticism - 17th Century, Philosophy, Doubt | Britannica
Dec 23, 2024 · Lacking rational answers to complete skepticism, humans must turn to God for help in overcoming doubt. The culmination of 17th-century skepticism appears in the writings of Pierre Bayle, especially in his monumental Dictionnaire historique et critique (1697–1702).
Skepticism - Medieval, Philosophical, Doubt | Britannica
Dec 23, 2024 · Skepticism - Medieval, Philosophical, Doubt: Pyrrhonism ended as a philosophical movement in the late Roman Empire, as religious concerns became paramount. In the Christian Middle Ages the main surviving form of skepticism was the Academic, as described in St. Augustine’s Contra academicos.
Skepticism - Rationalism, Doubt, Inquiry | Britannica
Dec 23, 2024 · Indeed, the history of philosophy can be seen, in part, as a struggle with skepticism. The attacks of the skeptics also have served as a check on rash speculation; the various forms of modern skepticism have gradually eroded the metaphysical and theological bases of European thought.
Skepticism - 18th Century, Philosophy, Doubt | Britannica
Dec 23, 2024 · Skepticism - 18th Century, Philosophy, Doubt: Most 18th-century thinkers gave up the quest for metaphysical knowledge after imbibing Bayle’s arguments. The Irish bishop George Berkeley, an empiricist and idealist, fought skeptical doubts by identifying appearance and reality and offering a spiritualistic metaphysics.
Spirituality, Archeology, Origin, & Skepticism - Britannica
Jan 8, 2025 · Since the origin of ley-line theory in the 1920s it has been stretched beyond its initial formulation and has been drawn into numerous other realms of human contemplation. Criticism and refutation. Academic archaeologists do not accept the theory of ley lines, and scientists have poked numerous holes in the idea.