The Significance of Philosophical Scepticism Essay -- Philosophy Philo

The Significance of Philosophical Scepticism In resolvent to the question What can we know? anyone who gives a pessimistic answer is tagged a sceptic. Scepticism is associated with incredulity. A sceptic is someone who questions things (particularly received opinions) and excessively practices suspension of judgement. This questioning outlook has been labelled by some as practical agnosticism. However, philosophical scepticism involves more than this. Its essential element is a general view about homophile knowledge. In the broadest terms, philosophical scepticism holds, or at least finds irrefutable, the view that knowledge is impossible. There argon two births of philosophical scepticism which differentiate it from everyday sceptical outlooks. The first has to do with its strength. The more challenging sceptical arguments do non depend on imposing high standards for knowledge or justification. Rather, the scepticism they imply is radical. It is not just the case that we can h ave all kinds of good reasons for what we believe, though those reasons do not quite measure up to the standards required by genuine knowledge. The radical sceptic questions whether we ever have the slightest reason for accept one thing rather than another, so we can never make up get to the point of justified belief, never mind whether our justifications are capable for knowledge, in some more restricted sense. The second crucial feature of philosophical scepticism concerns its scope. The philosophical sceptics negative verdict on human knowledge is highly general. This generality explains why philosophical scepticism formulates its scrap in terms of the possibility of knowledge. it is not merely the case that we in fact know a good deal less t... ...sophy. Penguin Reference.(1996). pp. 502-503. Morton, Adam. school of thought in Practice %151 An inlet to the Main Questions. Blackwell.(1996). Chapter 1. pp. 3-35. Moser, Paul. The Blackwell Guide to Epistemology. (Eds. Greco, J. and Sosa, E.). Blackwell.(1999). Chapter 2. pp. 70-91. Scruton, Roger.Modern Philosophy An Introduction and Survey. Mandarin.(1994). Chapter 2. pp. 16-22. Shermer, Michael. A Skeptical Manifesto. The Skeptic, vol. 11, Spring 1992. pp. 15-21.http//www.skeptic.comWarburton, Nigel. Philosophy The Basics. Routledge.(1992). Chapter 4. pp. 93-111. Williams, Michael. The Blackwell Guide to Epistemology. (Eds. Greco, J. and Sosa, E.). Blackwell.(1999). Chapter 1. pp. 35-69. Wittgenstein, Ludwig. Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. (Translated by Pears, D.F. and McGuinness, B.F.). Routledge. (1961). sectionalisation 6.51, p73.