Category Archives: Skepticism

The Democratic Virtues Of Skepticism

Pyrrho in Thomas Stanley History of Philosophy.jpgPyrrho of Elis is credited as being the first Greek skeptic philosopher.

(This essay first appeared at 3 Quarks Daily on July 13, 2020. Reprinted with permission.)
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Skepticism is the view that knowledge is unattainable. It comes in varying strengths. In the strongest version, it is a thesis about all knowledge, the global denial that anyone has ever known anything. Continue reading The Democratic Virtues Of Skepticism

Can We Know Anything with Certainty?

Rene Descartes

There are many reasons we might want to philosophize—to become better people, gain self-knowledge, understand the history of thought, etc. But I was drawn to philosophy because I wanted to know, as far as is possible, what was true. This sentiment echoes the first sentence of the first book in my very first college philosophy class, way back in 1973. Continue reading Can We Know Anything with Certainty?