Literally, the term "skepticism" means "hesitation, research, analysis." The main idea of this approach in philosophy is to deny the reliability of knowledge. A skeptic is a person who never takes any judgment for truth, first casting doubt on it. At first glance, such a position seems unstable and completely unattractive. It turns out that in the cognition of being we cannot rely on any generally accepted provisions, since they can also be questioned.
Types of Skepticism
Distinguish between relative and absolute skepticism. Absolute skepticism is characteristic of ancient philosophy; he denies the possibility of any knowledge at all. Relative skepticism is inherent in modernity and lies in the denial of philosophical knowledge. In science, it is the skeptic who is the engine of progress, because he does not take anything for the immutable truth, he searches for it, thoroughly checking every statement.
Skepticism as a Philosophical Direction
Skepticism is an independent direction in the philosophy of the Hellenistic era. The philosophical school of skeptics is characterized by the main point - all knowledge is unreliable. The founder of this trend in antiquity is Pirron, who considered doubt the basis of knowledge. He proceeded from the position that one point of view is no more true than another, since all knowledge is relative, and it is impossible to say who is closer to the essence of things and who is further.
Key Points of Skepticism
From a philosophical point of view, a skeptic is a person who adheres to the following provisions:
- since different thinkers had different points of view, none of them can be called fully true;
- human knowledge is limited, therefore no human judgment can be mistaken for truth;
- human cognition is relative, which means the inevitable influence of subjectivity on the results of cognition. We cognize by feelings, and therefore perceive the phenomenon not objectively, but as a result of exposure to our senses.
The Roman representative of skepticism, Sextus Empiricus, in his reasoning went so far as to extend the principle of doubt to his own thoughts.
The ultimate goal of a skeptical approach to cognition is the equanimity of the researcher. This means that, rejecting the adoption of any judgments, the thinker becomes impassive in his assessment of the world around him, thus acquiring serenity, happiness.
Positive aspects of skepticism
If everything is unreliable and defies cognition, what does a skeptic operate with? The importance of this direction in cognition is especially noticeable in the fight against dogmatism. If science is based on the so-called immutable truths, most likely, it is already dead. A critical assessment of each hypothesis, each fact obtained makes the thought sometimes move in the most unexpected directions, opening up new patterns. Thus, a skeptic is not just a critical cynic. This is a thinker whose doubt paves the way for new knowledge.
