Fact-checked by Grok 2 weeks ago

Radical skepticism

Radical skepticism is a philosophical stance that denies the possibility of certain knowledge, particularly regarding the external world, by arguing that no belief can be rationally justified beyond doubt due to the underdetermination of evidence by skeptical hypotheses such as global deception or infinite regress.^[1] This position holds that ordinary claims, like the existence of one's hands or the reliability of sensory experience, cannot be known because they fail to preclude scenarios where experiences are systematically illusory, rendering all epistemic warrant insufficient.^[2] Unlike moderate skepticism, which targets specific domains, radical skepticism is global, challenging the foundations of epistemology itself and implying that no proposition is more likely true than its negation.^[3] The concept has roots in ancient Greek philosophy, evolving through figures like Pyrrho, Descartes, and Hume, and persists in contemporary thought.^[3] Modern proponents, such as Peter Unger, argue that "nobody ever knows anything," using scenarios like the brain-in-a-vat to show evidence's failure to distinguish reality from simulation.^[4] Responses include G.E. Moore's common-sense realism and externalist approaches like Donald Davidson's principle of charity.^[5] Despite challenges like pragmatic inconsistency, radical skepticism probes the limits of knowledge and justification.^[3]

Overview

Definition

Radical skepticism is a philosophical position that asserts no beliefs can be justified or known with certainty, extending systematic doubt to all propositions, including those derived from sensory experience, reasoning, and basic logic.^[6] This view challenges the foundations of epistemology by positing that absolute knowledge is unattainable, leading to a suspension of judgment (epochē) on virtually every claim about reality.^[7] The term "skepticism" originates from the Greek word skepsis, meaning "inquiry" or "investigation," where a skeptic is literally an inquirer who questions rather than affirms.^[7] Over time, this evolved into radical forms that reject any indubitable foundations for knowledge, emphasizing relentless examination that undermines even seemingly self-evident truths.^[7] Key characteristics of radical skepticism include its universal scope, which applies doubt to all knowledge claims without exception; its methodological approach, employing doubt as a deliberate tool to expose vulnerabilities in belief systems; and its potential solipsistic outcomes, where persistent questioning may isolate the self, rendering the external world unknowable or illusory.^[6] For instance, radical skeptics may deny certain knowledge of the external world, arguing that perceptions could be deceptive simulations, or temporarily question one's own existence to test the limits of self-awareness.^[6]

Distinction from Moderate Skepticism

Radical skepticism differs from moderate skepticism primarily in its scope and intensity, with the former positing a global doubt that extends to all claims of knowledge, rendering certainty impossible across the board, while the latter applies doubt selectively to specific domains or accepts provisional beliefs based on probability.^[8] In radical skepticism, no belief receives reasoned support beyond immediate sensory impressions, leading to a comprehensive rejection of epistemic foundations—either through assertive denial that knowledge is possible or non-dogmatic suspension of judgment on all matters.^[7] By contrast, moderate skepticism, often methodological in nature, employs doubt as a tool for empirical testing without undermining all knowledge claims, aligning with scientific inquiry that demands evidence but permits rational acceptance of unproven hypotheses.^[8] Examples of moderate skepticism include fallibilism, which acknowledges that beliefs can be justified without absolute certainty, allowing for knowledge that is probable yet revisable in light of new evidence, and certain strains of Academic skepticism that endorse opinions based on the greater likelihood of one side in a dispute.^[9] Pyrrhonian skepticism, a form of radical skepticism, involves suspension of judgment (epochē) on all matters to achieve tranquility (ataraxia); it avoids dogmatic denial by neither affirming nor denying knowledge's possibility outright, thus permitting practical engagement without commitment.^[7] In Academic traditions, moderate forms explicitly allow self-aware opinions grounded in probability, distinguishing them from more stringent withholdings.^[10] The implications of this distinction are profound: radical skepticism risks epistemic paralysis or nihilism by eroding any basis for action or belief, potentially leaving individuals in a state of unrelieved doubt.^[11] Moderate skepticism, however, fosters practical belief systems that balance caution with functionality, enabling ethical and everyday decisions without requiring infallibility.^[8] Within broader skeptical traditions, radical skepticism aligns with Pyrrhonian skepticism, which universally suspends assent to maintain an open inquiry, whereas moderate forms predominate in Academic skepticism, which revises standards to accommodate probable judgments while rejecting absolute apprehension.^[7] This taxonomy positions radical skepticism as an extreme within the skeptical spectrum, emphasizing unattainable epistemic ideals, in contrast to moderate variants that integrate doubt into viable philosophical and scientific frameworks.^[9]

Historical Development

Ancient Roots

Radical skepticism traces its origins to ancient Greek philosophy, particularly through the figure of Pyrrho of Elis (c. 360–270 BCE), widely regarded as the founder of Pyrrhonism, a school that advocated the suspension of judgment on all non-evident matters to attain ataraxia, or mental tranquility.^[12] Pyrrho's philosophy emphasized that things in themselves are inherently indeterminate—described as adiaphora (indifferent), astathmēta (unsteady or unmeasurable), and anepikrita (indistinguishable)—leading adherents to withhold assent from dogmatic beliefs and instead live in accordance with appearances.^[12] This approach, later systematized by successors like Timon of Phlius, positioned Pyrrhonism as a radical departure from affirmative philosophies, promoting epochē (suspension of judgment) as the path to freedom from disturbance.^[7] The tradition evolved within the Platonic Academy during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE, where leaders like Arcesilaus (c. 316–241 BCE) and Carneades (c. 214–129 BCE) transformed it into a dialectical tool against dogmatic assertions, particularly those of the Stoics and Epicureans.^[7] Arcesilaus, as head of the Middle Academy, rejected any infallible criterion of truth and used probabilistic reasoning to argue that no belief could be securely justified, thereby instituting epochē as the Academy's practice.^[7] Carneades further refined this by introducing concepts like the pithanon (persuasive impression), a non-committal guide for action that allowed skeptics to navigate life without endorsing underlying truths, thus undermining Stoic claims to cognitive certainty through rigorous debate.^[7] Central to these ancient skeptical methods was the argument of isosthenia, the notion that opposing arguments or appearances possess equal persuasive force, resulting in undecidability and necessitating the suspension of judgment.^[7] In Pyrrhonism, this was exemplified by the Ten Tropes of Aenesidemus (1st century BCE), which highlighted discrepancies in perceptions across animals, humans, and cultures to demonstrate the impossibility of decisive knowledge.^[7] These ideas were later preserved and systematized by Sextus Empiricus (c. 160–210 CE), a physician and philosopher who compiled the surviving works of Pyrrhonism. In his Outlines of Pyrrhonism, Sextus outlined the modes of skepticism, including Agrippa's trilemma, which argues that justification leads to infinite regress, circularity, or unfounded assumption, reinforcing the case for epochē. Academic skeptics employed similar dialectical equipollence to expose contradictions in dogmatic systems, fostering a radical undecidability that permeated their critiques.^[7] This skeptical strain profoundly influenced Hellenistic philosophy, intersecting with Cynicism through figures like Monimus of Syracuse, who adapted Pyrrho's ideas into metaphors of life as "stage-painting" to question perceptual reliability, and challenging Stoicism by contesting its doctrine of infallible impressions as the basis for knowledge.^[7] These connections spurred epistemological debates across schools, with skeptics' emphasis on undecidability prompting Stoics and Epicureans to refine their defenses of sensory reliability, thereby shaping the broader landscape of post-Aristotelian thought.^[7]

Modern Evolution

The resurgence of radical skepticism during the Renaissance marked a pivotal adaptation of ancient Pyrrhonian ideas to the intellectual upheavals of the period, particularly in critiquing the limits of human reason amid emerging scientific inquiries. Michel de Montaigne, in his 1580 essay "Apology for Raymond Sebond" from The Essays, revived skeptical tropes to undermine dogmatic claims about knowledge, arguing that human faculties are inherently unreliable and prone to illusion, much like the senses deceive animals. Montaigne employed epochē—the suspension of judgment—to highlight reason's poverty, suggesting that true wisdom lies in acknowledging uncertainty rather than asserting certainties, thereby challenging the Renaissance humanist faith in rational mastery over nature.^[13] This revival culminated in the 17th century with René Descartes' methodical doubt, as outlined in his Meditations on First Philosophy (1641). Descartes systematically doubted all beliefs derived from senses, dreams, or even mathematical truths, positing an evil demon hypothesis to question the external world's reality. This radical approach aimed to rebuild knowledge from indubitable foundations, like the cogito ergo sum ("I think, therefore I am"), exposing the vulnerability of sensory-based certainty and influencing modern epistemology profoundly.^[14] In the Enlightenment, radical skepticism evolved through empiricist lenses, integrating scientific empiricism while questioning foundational principles like causation and induction. David Hume, in his 1748 An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, advanced a mitigated yet profoundly skeptical view by demonstrating that our belief in causal necessity derives not from rational insight but from habitual association of impressions, rendering induction unjustifiable beyond custom. Hume's analysis exposed the problem of induction as a radical challenge to scientific prediction, positing that no empirical evidence can logically guarantee future uniformity, thus transforming skepticism into a tool for delimiting knowledge claims in an age of rationalist optimism.^[15] The 19th and 20th centuries saw further developments in radical skepticism, though often intertwined with broader philosophical critiques. While figures like Friedrich Nietzsche introduced perspectivism, questioning absolute truths in favor of interpretive viewpoints, and logical positivism emphasized empirical verifiability leading to challenges against metaphysics, these contributed targeted skeptical arguments rather than global epistemic denial. Similarly, existentialist thinkers like Jean-Paul Sartre explored ontological freedom and contingency, but their focus on human agency amid uncertainty did not equate to suspending judgment on all knowledge claims. Radical skepticism's core epistemic challenges persisted through analytical philosophy, influencing debates on justification and external world knowledge.^[6]

Core Concepts and Arguments

Method of Doubt

The method of doubt, also known as methodological skepticism or hyperbolic doubt, is a systematic procedure employed in radical skepticism to rigorously question and withhold assent from all beliefs that admit even the slightest possibility of error, with the ultimate aim of identifying indubitable foundations for knowledge.^[14] This approach begins by targeting the reliability of sensory perceptions, acknowledging that the senses can deceive, as in cases of optical illusions or misjudgments of distant objects.^[16] René Descartes formalized this method in his 1641 work Meditations on First Philosophy, where he advocates doubting everything that is not clearly and distinctly perceived to demolish prior beliefs and rebuild on certain grounds.^[16] In the first stage, sensory deception is examined through everyday examples, such as the apparent size of the sun or towers, leading to a provisional rejection of sense-based knowledge as uncertain.^[14] The process escalates to doubt the intellect itself, particularly mathematical truths previously considered self-evident, by invoking hyperbolic scenarios that undermine even apparent certainties.^[16] Descartes progresses from sensory doubt to questioning arithmetic and geometry—such as whether 2 + 3 equals 5—positing a powerful deceiver capable of falsifying these under extreme conditions, thereby achieving maximum doubt.^[14] This methodical escalation aims to strip away all dubitable propositions, culminating in the recognition of an indubitable foundation: the cogito ergo sum ("I think, therefore I am"), which affirms the thinker's existence as a thinking being amidst total doubt.^[16] Through this step-by-step demolition, the method seeks not mere skepticism for its own sake but a pathway to certainty by isolating what resists all doubt.^[14] Variations of this method appear in ancient Pyrrhonian skepticism, where doubt arises from the infinite regress in justification, as articulated by Sextus Empiricus.^[17] In this mode, attributed to Agrippa, any belief requires supporting reasons, which in turn demand further justification, resulting in an endless chain that prevents any belief from being securely grounded and thus warrants suspension of judgment (epochē).^[17] Sextus describes this in the Outlines of Pyrrhonism as one of the Five Modes of Agrippa, where the regress demonstrates that dogmatic assertions lack a non-arbitrary stopping point, eroding claims to certainty.^[17] A key tool within the method of doubt is reductio ad absurdum, which applies to assumptions of reliability in perception or reason by deriving contradictory or untenable consequences from them.^[18] In Descartes' framework, assuming the senses or intellect are wholly reliable leads to absurd vulnerabilities under hyperbolic deception, justifying their provisional rejection.^[14] Similarly, Pyrrhonists use reductio against dogmatists by showing that claims of perceptual or rational infallibility imply self-defeating absurdities, such as infinite justificatory demands without resolution.^[7] This technique reinforces the method's goal of exposing foundational weaknesses without affirming any positive doctrine.^[18]

Indiscernibility Arguments

Indiscernibility arguments in radical skepticism posit that certain skeptical hypotheses generate experiences that are phenomenally indistinguishable from those in the actual world, thereby undermining claims to knowledge about external reality. These arguments challenge the reliability of perception by suggesting that one cannot rationally distinguish between veridical perceptions and deceptive ones, leading to the conclusion that knowledge based on sensory evidence is unattainable.^[6]^[6] The dream argument exemplifies this approach by questioning the ability to differentiate waking experiences from dreams. In ancient Chinese philosophy, Zhuangzi's butterfly dream illustrates the uncertainty: upon waking from a dream in which he was a butterfly, Zhuangzi wondered whether he was a man dreaming of being a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming of being a man, highlighting the lack of discernible criteria between dream and reality.^[19] Similarly, René Descartes in his Meditations on First Philosophy (1641) argues that since dreams can produce vivid sensory illusions indistinguishable from waking sensations, one cannot know with certainty that current perceptions are not part of a dream, thus casting doubt on all sensory-based knowledge.^[6]^[20] Building on this, Descartes introduces the evil demon hypothesis, or deus deceptor, as a more radical deceiver scenario. He posits a supremely powerful and malicious entity that systematically deceives the senses, making false beliefs appear true and rendering external reality questionable, as the experiences would be identical to those in a non-deceived world.^[6] This hypothesis extends the indiscernibility by eliminating any evidential basis for trusting perceptions, even beyond dreams, to encompass deliberate cosmic deception. Modern variants adapt these ideas to contemporary contexts while preserving the core indistinguishability. The brain-in-a-vat (BIV) thought experiment, though commonly used in skeptical arguments to suggest that perceptions could be simulated and indistinguishable from reality, was developed by Hilary Putnam (1981) as an anti-skeptical response based on semantic externalism: if one were a BIV, one's terms would fail to refer to actual brains or vats, rendering the hypothesis incoherent or self-refuting and thus refuting radical skepticism.^[21] Likewise, Nick Bostrom's simulation hypothesis (2003) proposes that advanced civilizations could run ancestor simulations so realistic that simulated beings could not detect their artificial nature, suggesting a high probability that our reality is such a simulation, thereby making genuine knowledge of base reality impossible.^[22] The logical structure of these arguments typically follows a conditional form: if a skeptical hypothesis Q (deception) produces perceptions P indistinguishable from those in the actual veridical scenario, then one cannot justifiably believe that P obtains rather than Q, rendering knowledge claims based on P unwarranted.^[6] This relies on the closure principle of knowledge, where failure to rule out Q undermines justification for everyday propositions entailed by ~Q.^[6]

Philosophical Implications

Epistemological Challenges

Radical skepticism poses profound challenges to foundationalism, the epistemological theory that posits a hierarchy of beliefs where basic, self-evident ones serve as the ultimate foundation for all justified knowledge without relying on further inference. By subjecting even these purportedly indubitable beliefs—such as immediate sensory perceptions or Cartesian intuitions like "I think, therefore I am"—to methodical doubt, skeptics argue that no belief is truly immune to error or deception, leading to an unavoidable epistemic regress. This regress manifests in three problematic forms: infinite chains of justification that finite minds cannot traverse, circular reasoning where beliefs justify one another without external grounding, or arbitrary axiomatic halts that lack rational warrant.^[23]^[24] In the context of Gettier problems, which highlight cases where individuals hold justified true beliefs that nonetheless fail to constitute knowledge due to elements of luck or unreliable cognitive processes, radical skepticism exacerbates the issue by questioning the very reliability of justification itself. Even in scenarios where a belief is true and appears justified—such as inferring a fact from seemingly solid evidence—skeptical hypotheses like the brain-in-a-vat or dream arguments render the sources of justification suspect, transforming Gettier counterexamples into instances of wholesale doubt about epistemic access to truth. Under radical doubt, no amount of internal coherence or evidential support can guarantee that the belief tracks reality, as the foundational reliability of perception or reasoning remains unverifiable.^[6]^[25] Coherentism, which justifies beliefs through their mutual consistency within a web of interconnected propositions, faces radical skepticism's critique that such internal harmony offers no assurance of correspondence to an external world, especially if the entire system could be a coherent but illusory construct, like a deceptive simulation. Similarly, reliabilism, which grounds justification in the reliability of belief-forming processes, is undermined by the skeptic's insistence that agents cannot verify the reliability of their cognitive mechanisms without circularly relying on those same mechanisms, rendering claims of process trustworthiness epistemically hollow.^[26]^[27] These challenges extend to broader epistemological domains, including skepticism toward a priori knowledge in fields like mathematics and logic, where radical doubt questions whether apparent necessities—such as basic arithmetic truths—hold universally or are merely contingent on unexamined assumptions about meaning and interpretation. Empirical induction, the process of generalizing from observed patterns to unobserved cases, is equally vulnerable, as skeptics contend that the uniformity of nature cannot be rationally justified without presupposing the very inductive principles under scrutiny, leading to a foundational gap in scientific reasoning.^[28]^[29]

Practical and Ethical Dimensions

Radical skepticism poses significant practical challenges by potentially leading to the suspension of action, often termed epistemic akrasia, where individuals recognize the rational basis for doubt but proceed with beliefs and decisions nonetheless. This indecision arises from the inability to discern true from false perceptions, resulting in moral paralysis when evaluating consequences, as the skeptic questions the reliability of evidence for any course of action.^[30] In response, some adopt fideism, relying on faith or non-evidential commitments to guide decisions, particularly in religious contexts where epistemic parity equates the justification of ordinary beliefs with those of faith.^[31] Adaptations of Pascal's Wager extend this by framing belief as a pragmatic bet under uncertainty, prioritizing potential gains over unresolved doubt to avoid inaction. Ethically, radical skepticism undermines moral realism by casting doubt on the objectivity of values, often implying relativism or nihilism where no universal moral truths can be known. Friedrich Nietzsche exemplifies this through his proclamation "God is dead," which extends beyond theology to erode foundational moral certainties, viewing traditional values as human constructs susceptible to genealogical critique and leading to a nihilistic revaluation.^[32] This ethical skepticism suggests that moral disagreements among philosophers reveal the absence of objective facts, fostering relativism where values are culturally contingent rather than absolute.^[33] In everyday philosophy, pragmatists like William James counter these implications by dismissing radical doubt as practically irrelevant, advocating beliefs that prove functional in experience over theoretical certainty. James' approach treats truth as what "works" in guiding action, allowing dismissal of skepticism to maintain decisiveness without requiring indubitable foundations. In modern applications, radical skepticism influences postmodernism by promoting the view of truth as socially constructed, challenging grand narratives and impacting politics through cynicism toward institutional authority and culture via emphasis on power dynamics over objective knowledge. This manifests in political discourse as heightened relativism, where claims to truth are seen as tools of dominance, eroding consensus on shared values.^[34]

Criticisms and Responses

Anti-Skeptical Theories

Foundationalism addresses radical skepticism by proposing that knowledge is structured hierarchically, with certain basic beliefs serving as foundational elements that do not require further justification. These basic beliefs, such as immediate sensory experiences or self-evident truths, act as stopping points in the regress of justification, thereby providing a secure basis for deriving other justified beliefs.^[35] In René Descartes' framework, this approach is exemplified by the cogito argument in his Meditations on First Philosophy, where the indubitable certainty of one's own existence as a thinking thing—"I think, therefore I am"—emerges as a foundational truth immune to hyperbolic doubt, allowing subsequent rebuilding of knowledge upon this bedrock.^[36] Externalism, particularly in the form of reliabilism, counters skepticism by shifting the focus from internal access to justification toward the reliability of cognitive processes that produce beliefs. Alvin Plantinga's proper functionalism, developed in Warrant and Proper Function, posits that a belief constitutes knowledge if it is produced by cognitive faculties functioning properly according to a design plan aimed at truth, in an environment for which they were designed, even if the believer lacks introspective awareness of this reliability.^[37] This externalist strategy undermines skeptical challenges like brain-in-a-vat scenarios by arguing that knowledge does not depend on defeating all conceivable error possibilities internally but on the actual reliability of belief-forming mechanisms, such as perception or memory, which yield warrant under normal conditions.^[37] G. E. Moore's "here is one hand" argument offers a direct, common-sense rebuttal to skepticism about the external world, asserting that ordinary certainties—such as the evident existence of one's hands—possess greater epistemic assurance than the abstract hypotheses posited by skeptics. In his 1939 paper "Proof of an External World," Moore holds up his hands and declares, "Here is one hand, and here is another," claiming that this perceptual demonstration proves the existence of material objects more convincingly than any skeptical denial, as the premises are known with certainty while the skeptical conclusion (that we lack knowledge of the external world) is not.^[38] This approach prioritizes the intuitive obviousness of everyday knowledge claims over elaborate skeptical arguments, maintaining that if skepticism entails denying such commonsense truths, then skepticism must be false.^[38] Transcendental arguments, rooted in Immanuel Kant's critical philosophy, refute radical skepticism by demonstrating that skeptical doubt presupposes the very conditions of knowledge it seeks to undermine. In the Critique of Pure Reason, Kant's Transcendental Deduction argues that the unity of apperception—the coherent self-consciousness required for any experience—necessitates synthetic a priori principles, such as causality and the categories of understanding, which structure objective knowledge and make skepticism about empirical reality incoherent. Similarly, the Refutation of Idealism in the second edition shows that self-awareness of inner states depends on the permanence of outer objects in space and time, thus establishing the existence of an external world as a necessary condition for the skeptic's own introspective claims. These arguments do not provide empirical proof but reveal the transcendental preconditions that skepticism implicitly relies upon, thereby securing knowledge against universal doubt.^[6]

Contemporary Reassessments

In the early 21st century, cognitive science has significantly influenced reassessments of radical skepticism by integrating probabilistic models of belief formation, particularly through Bayesian epistemology. This approach treats skeptical hypotheses—such as the possibility of being a brain in a vat—not as absolute impossibilities but as scenarios assigned low prior probabilities, updated through evidence accumulation via Bayes' theorem.^[39] For instance, Bayesian models resolve skeptical paradoxes by demonstrating that even if skeptical scenarios are epistemically possible, their posterior probabilities remain negligible given empirical data, thereby preserving justified belief without foundationalist absolutes.^[40] Complementing this, Andy Clark's extended mind thesis posits that cognition extends beyond the brain to include environmental tools and interactions, challenging the internalist assumptions underlying traditional skeptical doubts about external reality. By reconceptualizing knowledge as distributed across embodied and embedded systems, this view undermines radical skepticism's isolation of the mind from the world, suggesting that doubt about external inputs ignores the constitutive role of those inputs in cognition itself.^[41] Advances in physics and computing have revived radical skeptical challenges through debates on quantum mechanics and simulation hypotheses, most notably Nick Bostrom's 2003 argument that advanced civilizations could simulate ancestor realities, implying a high probability that our world is such a simulation rather than a base reality.^[42] Bostrom's trilemma posits that either humanity faces extinction before posthuman stages, posthuman societies avoid running ancestor simulations, or we are almost certainly living in a simulation, framing this as a modern indiscernibility problem akin to Descartes' evil demon.^[42] These debates, intersecting philosophy with cosmology, highlight how quantum indeterminacy and computational limits complicate but do not resolve radical skeptical threats, prompting ongoing scrutiny of reality's ontological status.^[22] Feminist epistemology has reassessed radical skepticism post-2000 by critiquing its universalist pretensions as a "god-trick" of detached objectivity, instead advocating Donna Haraway's concept of situated knowledges, which emphasizes partial, embodied perspectives as reliable sources of understanding.^[43] This framework rejects skepticism's demand for absolute certainty, arguing that knowledge emerges from located standpoints—particularly those marginalized by gender—offering epistemic advantages over abstract doubt by fostering accountability to lived contexts.^[44] Postcolonial reassessments extend this critique, viewing radical skepticism as a Western-centric discourse that privileges abstract universality while silencing subaltern epistemologies shaped by colonial violence.^[45] Decolonial thinkers argue for epistemologies of the Global South that counter skeptical nihilism with relational knowledges grounded in resistance and hybridity, exposing skepticism's complicity in epistemic imperialism.^[46] Today, radical skepticism remains a minority position in analytic philosophy, valued primarily as a tool for refining epistemological theories rather than an existential threat, with debates centered in journals like Philosophical Quarterly and Synthese.^[47] Recent work explores contextualist and hinge epistemology strategies to accommodate skeptical possibilities without undermining everyday knowledge, reflecting a consensus that while radical doubt illuminates justification's limits, pragmatic and inferentialist responses render it intellectually marginal yet heuristically useful.^[48] More recent ethical critiques, such as Chris Ranalli's 2024 argument that radical doubt is morally wrong because it requires foregoing doxastic commitments owed to others, further highlight pragmatic concerns with skepticism.^[49] Interdisciplinary integrations with science continue to evolve these discussions, ensuring skepticism's relevance amid technological and cognitive advancements.^[50]

References

[1]
[PDF] A New Peircean Response to Radical Skepticism
Abstract: The radical skeptic argues that I have no knowledge of things I ordinarily claim to know because I have no evidence for or against the possibility ...Missing: definition | Show results with:definition
[2]
[PDF] Complete Radical Skepticism
As far as the attainability of 'knowledge', the radical skeptic has no opinion. The radical skeptic does not take a position as to what is the proper concept or ...
[3]
[PDF] The History of Skepticism : In Search of Consistency - OAPEN Library
This book reconstructs the history of skepticism ranging from ancient to contemporary times, from Pyrrho to Kripke. The main skeptical stances and.
[4]
[PDF] DAVIDSON AND RADICAL SCEPTICISM - eScholarship
ABSTRACT. Donald Davidson famously argued, contra radical scepticism, that belief is in its nature veridical. In assessing whether Davidson was successful in ...
[5]
How to undercut radical skepticism - jstor
Aug 16, 2016 · Abstract Radical skepticism relies on the hypothesis that one could be completely cut. off from the external world. In this paper, I argue that ...Missing: scholarly | Show results with:scholarly
[6]
Skepticism - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Dec 8, 2001 · Philosophically interesting forms of skepticism claim that we do not know propositions which we ordinarily think we do know.Two Basic Forms of... · The Argument for Cartesian... · Pyrrhonian Skepticism
[7]
Ancient Skepticism - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Feb 24, 2010 · Ancient skepticism is as much concerned with belief as with knowledge. As long as knowledge has not been attained, the skeptics aim not to affirm anything.
[8]
https://doi.org/10.1016/0732-118X(91)90017-G
[9]
[PDF] LEctuREs oN thE HistoRy oF MoRAl Philosophy | JohN RAwls
Radical skepticism holds that the beliefs in question have no reasoned sup- port; they are completely ungrounded. Moderate skepticism holds them to be less ...
[10]
[PDF] Skepticism, Fallibilism, and Rational Evaluation - PhilArchive
While the skeptic believes that we cannot know what we cannot confirm with 100% certainty, fallibilists have a more moderate view. Absolutely certainty is ...
[11]
[PDF] Radicalism and Moderation in the New Academy
1 For our present purpose, moderate and radical forms of Academic scepticism may be mini- mally defined by their attitudes toward two tenets.2 Moderate ...
[12]
Pyrrho - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Aug 5, 2002 · Pyrrho was the starting-point for a philosophical movement known as Pyrrhonism that flourished beginning several centuries after his own time.Life · Reports on Pyrrho's Demeanor... · Influences on Pyrrho · Pyrrho's Influence
[13]
[PDF] Montaigne and the Coherence of Eclecticism - Columbia University
11 According to Popkin, the Pyrrhonian Skepticism developed by Montaigne in the ''Apology for Raymond Sebond'' is both the logical continuation and the ...
[14]
[PDF] An Enquiry concerning Human Understanding
An enquiry concerning human understanding / David Hume; edited with an ... sceptical argument concerning induction, outlined in §11 of the. Introduction ...
[15]
[PDF] Nietzsche's Perspectivism as an Epistemological and Meta-Ethical ...
This statement is an expression of Nietzsche's moral skepticism that denies objective moral facts and holds that all values depend on perspectival value ...
[16]
[PDF] 30 HUME, THE PHILOSOPHY OF SCIENCE, AND THE SCIENTIFIC ...
Aug 27, 2018 · In 1967, John Pass- more (1967 : 57) famously voiced that logical positivism “is dead, or as dead as a philosophical ... verification principle.<|control11|><|separator|>
[17]
[PDF] A rhetoric of existentialism - LSU Scholarly Repository
Jean-Paul Sartre, for instance, considers the death of God as a clearing for freedom and, by extending Nietzsche's announcement, suggests, as humans, “We are ...
[18]
Descartes' Epistemology - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Dec 3, 1997 · Hyperbolic doubt helps me appreciate that the existence of my body is subject to doubt, whereas the existence of my thinking is not. The very ...
[19]
Meditations on First Philosophy by Rene Descartes
I will set aside anything that admits of the slightest doubt, treating it as though I had found it to be outright false; and I will carry on like that until I ...
[20]
Sextus Empiricus - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Jan 17, 2014 · Pyrrhonian skepticism involves having no beliefs about philosophical, scientific, or theoretical matters—and according to some interpreters, no ...
[21]
Reductio ad Absurdum - Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Reductio ad absurdum is a mode of argumentation that seeks to establish a contention by deriving an absurdity from its denial.<|separator|>
[22]
Zhuangzi - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Dec 17, 2014 · He doesn't know if Zhuangzi dreamt of being a butterfly or a butterfly is dreaming of being Zhuangzi—though there must be a difference. This ...Zhuangzi's Life and Times · Modern Philosophical... · Bibliography
[23]
Philosophy of Dreaming
Descartes' dream argument began with the claim that dreams and waking life can have the same content. There is, Descartes alleges, a sufficient similarity ...<|separator|>
[24]
Are We Living in a Computer Simulation? - Oxford Academic
I argue that at least one of the following propositions is true: (1) the human species is very likely to become extinct before reaching a 'posthuman' stage; (2) ...
[25]
Foundationalist Theories of Epistemic Justification
Feb 21, 2000 · ... foundationalism leads inevitably to an unacceptably radical skepticism. Some contemporary epistemologists seek a more modest foundationalism ...Regress Arguments for... · Objections to Classical... · Internalist Alternatives to...Missing: undermining | Show results with:undermining
[26]
Foundationalism | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
An adequate theory of noninferential justification is essential for foundationalism. Foundationalist views differ on the nature of noninferential justification.
[27]
[PDF] The Gettier Problem - PhilArchive
Any viable reductive analysis of knowledge faces a dilemma between being vulnerable to Gettier counterexamples or risk collapsing into radical skepticism.
[28]
Epistemic Justification - Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Since circular arguments are fallacious, if coherentism entails that justification is circular, coherentism cannot resolve the DIJ. A more recent alternative to ...
[29]
Reliabilism | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Reliabilists need not be committed to the claim that one cannot know that radical skeptical hypotheses, like the BIV scenario, are false, and there are strong ...
[30]
[PDF] Can We Be Skeptical About A Priori Knowledge? - PhilArchive
In this paper, we present a dialectical argument for a priori skepticism (i.e. the thesis that it is possible to be skeptical about a priori knowledge).
[31]
The Problem of Induction - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Mar 21, 2018 · In 1748, Hume gave a shorter version of the argument in Section iv of An enquiry concerning human understanding (Hume 1748). Throughout this ...<|control11|><|separator|>
[32]
[PDF] Skeptical Theism, Fideism, and Pyrrhonian Skepticism - PhilArchive
Because I am quite comfortable with radical skepticism,. I do not take the ... ambitious theodicy → modest theodicy → skeptical theism → moderate fideism → ...
[33]
Skepticism, Fideism, and Religious Epistemology (Chapter 6)
The epistemic parity argument offered by skeptical fideism involves showing that our ordinary beliefs are no less imbued with arational commitments than our ...
[34]
[PDF] Moral Skepticism and Moral Disagreement in Nietzsche
3 What I shall argue here is that we can adduce independent grounds for Nietzsche‟s skepticism about the objectivity of morality and that these grounds hold ...Missing: Friedrich | Show results with:Friedrich
[35]
[PDF] Values and Beliefs: A pragmatist critique of moral nihilism
Nietzsche argues that moral nihilism, to at least some degree, is a logical consequence of the way moral systems have historically conceptualized values:.
[36]
[PDF] Postmodern Theories, Politics, and Challenges
Abstract: The postmodern turn which has so marked social and cultural theory also involves conflicts between modern and postmodern politics.
[37]
[PDF] Proof of an External World - rintintin.colorado.edu
Proof of an External World by G. E. Moore (1939). It seems to me that, so far from its being true, as Kant declares to be his opinion, that there is only one ...
[38]
[PDF] DESCARTES, MEDIATION ON FIRST PHILOSOPHY (1641)1
The first section contains Descartes' philosophy on the topic of doubt. In the second, Descartes explains why he can be confident that he exists.
[39]
[PDF] Warrant and Proper Function
According to the internalist, the knower can know, and know in some special way, that a certain proposition or belief has warrant or justification for her; ...
[40]
Bayesian epistemology - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Jun 13, 2022 · Bayesian epistemologists study norms governing degrees of beliefs, including how one's degrees of belief ought to change in response to a varying body of ...
[41]
[PDF] Skepticism and Epistemic Closure: Two Bayesian Accounts
Abstract. This paper considers two novel Bayesian responses to a well-known skeptical paradox. The paradox consists of three intuitions: first, ...
[42]
The Extended Mind, the Concept of Belief, and Epistemic Credit
This chapter poses a challenge to the extended mind thesis that Andy Clark and David Chalmers propose for beliefs, upon which their thesis is largely based.<|separator|>
[43]
[PDF] Are You Living in a Computer Simulation?
This paper argues that at least one of the following propositions is true: (1) the human species is very likely to go extinct before reaching a.
[44]
[PDF] A REFUTATION OF THE SIMULATION ARGUMENT - PhilArchive
Bostrum points out that while “simulating the entire universe down to the quantum level is obviously infeasible,…much less is needed – only whatever is required ...
[45]
Feminist Epistemology and Philosophy of Science
Aug 9, 2000 · The central concept of feminist epistemology is of situated knowledge: knowledge that reflects the particular perspectives of the knower.
[46]
SITUATING FEMINIST EPISTEMOLOGY | Episteme | Cambridge Core
Apr 10, 2018 · The situated knowledge thesis concerns justification, rather than facts, and whilst constructivism about justification might often be found ...<|separator|>
[47]
The problem of epistemological critique in contemporary Decolonial ...
Jun 20, 2023 · Decolonial theory argues that the coloniality of rational Western epistemology is the cause of all global crises, including violent patriarchy, racism and ...
[48]
The epistemological irony of postcolonialism - SciELO South Africa
The epistemological irony of postcolonialism is that it critiques western power but uses western, naturalistic epistemologies to deconstruct religious ...
[49]
Contemporary Skepticism | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Contemporary skepticism involves doubt about claims taken for granted, focusing on epistemological or ontological aspects, and can be local or radical.
[50]
[PDF] Recent Work on Skepticism in Epistemology - VU Research Portal
Moreover, many philosophers have become interested in the practical implications of radi- cal skepticism as well as practical arguments for radical skepticism.<|control11|><|separator|>
[51]
Contemporary Responses to Radical Skepticism (Chapter 8)
One thread running through the contemporary (i.e. post-war onwards) treatment of radical skepticism has been a concern to be true to our commonsense ...