Questions tagged [skepticism]
The skepticism tag has no usage guidance.
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Is there any proof of assertion that “assertion can be proved”?
Here's some reason to doubt any proof:
Dissent – The uncertainty demonstrated by the differences of opinions among philosophers and people in general.
Progress ad infinitum – All proof rests on ...
2
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1answer
58 views
Is doubting inner world is like doubting external world? [closed]
Does scepticism of external world and sceptical on inner world of same level?
Like someone doubting external world doesn't exists, it is illusion or process or emergence by inner world, only inner ...
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75 views
Is it self-defeating for commentators to tell people not to believe or trust the media?
For example: let's suppose that I am a conspiracy theorist and commentator, my job is to report what goes on in the world of politics, social media, and give my opinions.
Is it self-defeating to tell ...
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28 views
Could a Pyrrhonic Skeptic Procedurally know?
is the concept of Procedural Knowledge, inconsistent with Pyrrhonic Skepticism?
i ask this as, it does not seem that Procedural Knowledge coincides with the model of Knowledge espoused by Pyrrhonic ...
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4answers
151 views
Is Philosopical Skepticism self-defeating?
Whilst researching philosophical skepticism, I found this answer to the question here which states the following:
[Jon Erison] Extreme skepticism is in fact self-defeating. According the the ...
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8answers
4k views
Is watching an amputated limb regrow proof of the supernatural?
A typical challenge skeptics present when confronted with claims of alleged miracles is "why won't God Heal amputees?". But, would that do the job? Consider the following thought experiment: ...
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1answer
47 views
Can you give other examples of skeptical hypotheses that haven't been mentioned yet?
I need some help with my philosophy homework. We were told to formulate our own skeptical hypothesis and use it as part of a radical skeptical argument, and that the skeptical hypothesis needs to be ...
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1answer
36 views
What's Sextus Empiricus recommended book about scepticism?
Having read Cicero's Academics, I'd like to learn a bit more about skepticism (through original texts, not summaries).
If a had to read only one book from Sextus Empiricus, would you recommend the ...
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5answers
229 views
Philosophical assumptions underlying science
I am a medical student and have been interested lately in the foundations of the scientific research method I have been taught.
I've read that there is in fact no such thing as a unique scientific ...
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0answers
64 views
How can beliefs be justified when they are always subject to Cartesian skepticism?
It seems obvious to me that after glancing at my watch I "know" what time it is. But this apparent "knowledge" can be explained away by infinitely many skeptical hypotheses. ...
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19 views
The anatomy of miracles [duplicate]
I myself think miracles are phenomena that cannot be explained by extant accepted theories.
Now, science and scientific method claims to reject miracles and propose a reason and logic for every ...
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1answer
42 views
Where does Moore admits that none really knows the truth about those propositions that supposedly we all know?
Alfred Jules Ayer, in a conference where he exposes the achievements of Moore, starts it by saying:
"It is true that Moore diminishes the force of his position by adding that no one knows the ...
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389 views
How do philosophers respond to global skepticism?
I saw a video of a philosopher (Robert Audi) who said that common sense is the best response we can give to global skepticism. I would agree, but it's not clear to me what the nature of common sense ...
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50 views
Difference between *skepticism* and *fallibilism*?
Is the difference simply something like this:
Skepticism: Certainty is never possible.
Fallibilism: Certainty is not usually possible.
0
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1answer
62 views
Chalmers'argument that the brain in the VAT does not lead to skepticism [closed]
Chalmers gave an argument that the brain in the VAT does not lead to skepticism (even if I am the brain in the VAT, I can also say "I have one hand is true") in his "The Matrix as Metaphysics"(for the ...
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90 views
Is it epistemically untenable to posit a total explanation of reality?
I am certainly not well-versed in metaphysics, so please correct the terminology I have employed throughout.
When I speak of a total explanation of reality, I am describing an explanation that ...
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1answer
194 views
Do philosophers recognize a deeper problem behind issues like the Problem of the Criterion or the Munchausen Trilemma?
First off, I would like to make it clear that I'm not implying I discovered some secret knowledge about the problems mentioned in the title that has alluded other philosophers for the past 2000+ years....
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1answer
93 views
Is existence a necessary condition for thinking? [closed]
Is existence a necessary condition for thinking?
Descartes argues that because he thinks, he exists. But wouldn't he have to exist in the first place for him to:
A) Think and
B) Realize that he ...
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204 views
Do stories contain “Meta-truth”? Jordan Peterson
I am hoping someone can help me find what is wrong and/or right with the idea of "meta-truth". I am also curious as to what can be problematic. ..I don't think "meta-truth" is defined officially.
...
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1answer
133 views
Epistemic pluralism’s potential slippery slope into epistemic nihilism
William James long ago noted that:
“Up to about 1850 almost everyone believed that sciences expressed
truths that were exact copies of a definite code of non-human
realities. But the enormously ...
7
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1answer
184 views
Hume on infinity
I know Hume argued against dividing finite space into infinitely many regions, but I can't seem to find anything regarding his thoughts on infinity itself. From his Enquiry you sort of get that he ...
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0answers
65 views
Some questions about skepticism and the principle of knowledge?
What about this principle? ("if K (P - > ~ Q), then ~ k (~ Q) - > ~ k (P)") (if you know (P implies non-Q, then you don't know non-Q implies don't know P)
I learnt about that Nozick gave an anti ...
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2answers
228 views
I could prove: Solipsism is wrong. Is my argument acceptable?
Solipsism is the idea that one cannot be sure of anyone's existence but only themself. I think that one can assume this idea to be right and then prove that this is wrong. This self-inconsistency ...
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30 views
Is voting on taxes ethical without being presented the “numbers”?
if I base my vote (on taxes) based on republican or democrat anecdote, as well as my own paycheck, is it the right thing for for me to do, to vote on taxes? I am trying to skeptically look at voting (...
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266 views
Does externalism solve the Münchhausen trilemma?
In traditional (access-)internalist epistemology, justification is a relation between beliefs, or sets of beliefs. My belief that it will rain today is justified by beliefs about the season, my ...
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159 views
How do we know we could be brains in vats? [closed]
So-called skeptics usually claim that we don't know some normal facts because they know some abnormal fact about some possibility that undermines knowledge. How do these people know their modal claims ...
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1answer
149 views
How does imprecise and ambiguous natural language relate to the equivocation fallacy and how can we know what words mean?
I am feeling really confused on how we colloquially use and redefine words and sometime use the equivocation fallacy. I have fallen into equivocation language traps before, and as I become more aware ...
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76 views
Bayes and unknown probabilites: is this reasoning from the failure of explanation a fallacy?
Bayesian probability is an interpretation of the concept of
probability, in which, instead of frequency or propensity of some
phenomenon, probability is interpreted as reasonable expectation
...
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3answers
311 views
Serious arguments against skepticism about the external world?
As we all know, Kant wrestled with Cartesian skepticism for a long time. And of course, Descartes himself did, but he appeals to a version of the ontological argument which is not very persuasive.
...
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3answers
103 views
Doubt about the possibility of knowing someone is actually saying the truth [closed]
Except for a few cases in which you can have proof someone is saying the truth, can you actually ever know if someone is being honest when they say things like "I love you", "this is nice" or "you ...
1
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2answers
253 views
Would answering belief challenges be the same as the scientific method?
Let's say I believe this statement: "all swans are white". Someone comes and asks me these Socratic questions: "is it true that all swans are white?", "is there an instance that a swan is not white?", ...
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92 views
How can the position of skepticism avoid becoming incoherent on the problem of the criterion?
Concerning the problem of the criterion, there has been said to be three traditional responses: methodism, particularism, or skepticism. Although other philosophers have proposed that there are more ...
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69 views
Name of fallacious reasoning about the reality of abstractions
There is a kind of reasoning that is often heard, where the irreality of some abstraction is inferred from the fact that entities that fall under it are not perfectly homogenous.
(1) A lot of times ...
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1answer
111 views
An Argument that Knowledge is a Matter of Choice
I have met someone who argues as follows:
What I know depends on what axioms I take. As these axioms are left unjustified, I have as much justification for them as for their negations, so I could ...
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1answer
211 views
Is it possible to track the truth?
Epistemology seems to show that knowledge is always fallible. How can that position be satisfying at all? It seems to me that we are eternally condemned to hope we are going in the right direction and ...
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1answer
155 views
How are the assumptions underlying logic chosen?
Logic works based on certain assumptions about its rules. How are these axiomatic assumptions selected in the first place, given that a system of logic does not exist prior to the point of selection?
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292 views
Are there any certainties besides “Cogito, ergo sum”?
Descartes said, "Cogito, ergo sum(I think, therefore I am)". I agree with him on the fact that this is the only thing that we can ever truly know for sure. Is there anyone who could tell me if there ...
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4answers
641 views
Is Solipsism self-defeating?
If only my mind existed it would have to create the concept of time but nothing can be created without time, therefore solipsism is self-defeating. Shouldn't this automatically rule out solipsism?
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1answer
225 views
Is this a good argument against Simulation and Brain in a Vat hypotheses?
I was wondering about these skeptical hypotheses regarding the reality we experience. More specifically I wanted to address the Simulation and Brain in a Vat arguments because to me they seem kind of ...
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3answers
108 views
How do moral skeptics respond to the concept of permissible heinous acts
The Problem
Let's say I am debating my friend Jake who believes that morality exists. But I am a hard determinist who believes that all actions are predetermined by some act or event beforehand. Jake ...
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4answers
862 views
Is “Why is the sky blue?” a philosophical question or scientific?
Why is "Why is the sky blue?" such a common question made by children? And why has that question about the question never been asked before?
Is it that the question is just a cultural artifact, that ...
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1answer
96 views
What is the name of the school of thought that holds “humans did it”?
My world view is that there is no way to peek behind the curtains of the universe to reveal its truths-- whether spiritual, religious, or even scientific.
I don't think the word to describe this is ...
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8answers
3k views
How can a non-religious person justify or rationalize hope or optimism in an absurd world?
I don't mean to make this post too personal, but I've been in the midst of the first kind of existential funk in my life. A bunch of negative things have happened around me recently, and as a pretty ...
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0answers
63 views
Does Sosa's modal definition of knowledge beg the question?
In his 1999 paper "How to Defeat Opposition to Moore", Ernest Sosa argues that sceptical, Nozickian tracking, relevant-alternative, and contextualist accounts of the sceptical paradox rely on the ...
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1answer
99 views
Cartesian Skepticism within a Coherentist Epistemology
I recently decided that it is high time I reacquaint myself with the early moderns, and I thought there could be no better place to start with than Descartes' Mediations on First Philosophy. Reading ...
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1answer
71 views
Does Hume's skepticism about induction extend to his treatise?
Can we extend Hume's skeptical conclusions to the treatise itself? How far reaching is Hume's skepticism, and if it is all-encompassing, then what is (as he sees) the purpose of his work?
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141 views
How does Rawls defend himself from skepticism?
How does Rawls defend himself from skepticism?
I know most philosophers try to defend their philosophical ideologies against skepticism by presenting requirements for what philosophical ethical ...
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1answer
120 views
Who was the Philosopher who said to jump into the fire if you think it is not real?
Just as the title says. There was a philosopher who said that you should jump into a fire if you think it might not exist and see how it goes. I cannot find it on google, maybe I am typing in the ...
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4answers
645 views
Slippery slope fallacy, clarification on its correct use
I was having a discussion with some friends about Charlottesville,
(BTW We're from and live in Ireland)
My friend was supporting the idea of physically assaulting Neo Nazi's.
My argument was number ...
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2answers
108 views
What skeptical arguments do not use induction?
What skeptical arguments do not use induction? I haven't yet found anything which says these do not exist, so doubt that they don't. But I'm still intrigued, as SEP says that
[a] way to motivate ...
