What is Skepticism?

Skepticism is a philosophical theory and system that doubts whether the objective world exists and whether objective truth can be recognized. The Greek word originally meant reflection, hesitation, doubt, and also a state of doubt or indecision in the face of conflicting statements. ^[1]

Scepticism

Skepticism is a philosophical theory and system that doubts whether the objective world exists and whether objective truth can be recognized. The Greek word originally meant reflection, hesitation, doubt, and also a state of doubt or indecision in the face of conflicting statements. ^[1]

To explore skepticism, we must first define skepticism. So what is skepticism? I think skepticism and

Through the above investigation and analysis, we can see that there are two kinds of skepticism with fundamental differences in philosophy: agnostic skepticism and skeptical skepticism.

Skepticism

Representatives of agnostic skepticism are Pi Lang and Hume. Pirangism advocates "suspending judgment" on all things for the purpose of skepticism. This is thorough skepticism. This skepticism is only destructive and not constructive. Pilang himself acknowledged that he must doubt even his own skepticism. Such skepticism is difficult to correct. Hume's skepticism is based on narrow empirical theory, and cannot solve the problems of absolute knowledge such as mathematics and logic, and can only fall into the quagmire of agnosticism. It asserts that a person's ability cannot exceed the scope of sensory experience or phenomenon, and cannot understand the nature and development law of things. Many schools deny the objectivity of scientific truth from agnosticism, denying the philosophical theory that practice makes subjectivity conform to objectivity, exclude the possibility of knowing the world, or exclude the possibility of thoroughly understanding the world.

Pilang was introduced into philosophy by skepticism as a theoretical form. Although Pi Lang acknowledged the existence of the phenomenon, he denied the authenticity of the phenomenon. Since the phenomenon does not have any authenticity, we cannot get any real knowledge from the phenomenon. We cannot judge whether our feelings are real or false, so he advocates "suspend judgment" on all issues. Pi Lang also believes that for each proposition, an opposite proposition can be put forward to oppose it. The two have the same value and effectiveness, and all dogmas cannot be established. From this we can see that Pilang's skepticism is indeed a rebellion against the dogmatism of natural philosophy. But Pilang also went to the other extreme, not trusting anything, making no judgments, and treating the external world as completely irrelevant to himself, thereby maintaining inner peace.

We call this skepticism a thorough skepticism.

Pi Lang exaggerated the relativity of feeling and cognition, and his skepticism was too extreme. He has no writings himself, and he has not much argument for skepticism. His achievements are only to establish the theoretical form of skepticism, and he is still in an unprecedented extreme form of skepticism.

Skepticism

Representation of skepticism is known as Descartes. The first meditation in Descartes's "Philosophical Contemplations" begins with general suspicion, bringing everything down and rebuilding it. This skeptical skepticism is a means rather than an end, and this skepticism is not only essential to philosophy but also plays a vital role in philosophy. It can even be said that without such skepticism, modern philosophy cannot be produced. The skeptical spirit is a positive, driving force for scientific development. The spirit of skepticism is not only the driving force of scientific development, but also the basis of philosophical development. This most obviously reflects the general skeptical spirit of Descartes. Descartes doubted the existence of all knowledge and even the outside world, and thus introduced the famous proposition "I think, therefore I am," thus laying the foundation of his entire doctrine. Descartes' skepticism is for better conviction and to give the theory a stronger foundation. The replacement of philosophical systems in history and the replacement of different paradigms in the history of science are based on this spirit of doubt. This suspicion has an internal connection with reason. Without such suspicion, reason is not real reason, and it does not conflict with reason and science.