Philosophical Skepticism

David Hume

Skepticism s the theory that the real truth can never be known with certainty. The Skeptical School was founded by Pyrrho of Elis (about 365-275 BC) in ancient Greece. One traditional form of skepticism, advocated by David Hume and Immanuel Kant, questioned the capacity of the human mind to grasp and understand reality. Another traditional form of skepticism, advanced by Hindu and Buddhist philosophers, questions the very existence of a real world outside of the human mind.

In modern times the term skepticism is used colloquially to refer to disbelief in anything non-material, such as God. Interestingly, the Bible itself gives an example of skepticism when "Doubting Thomas" would not believe that Jesus had risen until he saw Him with his own eyes and put his fingers into Jesus' wounds.

Modern atheists, such as James Randi, use skepticism as a cover for atheism. Sam Harris is one of the founders of the New Atheism movement. Sam Harris is quite aware of the stigma surrounding atheism and has even advocated that atheists no longer call themselves atheists.^[1] In fact, Harris has said concerning the label of atheist, "It's right next to child molester as a designation."^[1] See also: Views on atheists

See also[edit]

• Atheism and cynicism
• Atheist factions
• Agnosticism
• Scientific skepticism
• Greek Philosophy
• Skeptic
• Solipsism

References[edit]

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Roberts, Jessica, et al. (June 19, 2007). "Interview with an atheist". News21. Retrieved on July 30, 2014.