SKEPTICISM AND EDUCATION
THE MEANING OF SKEPTICISM
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a critical philosophical attitude
questions the reliability of knowledge claims made by people
derives from Greek ‘skepticos’, meaning ‘inquirers’
a skeptic may question human knowledge in general or knowledge in a specific subject or field, e.g. sense knowledge,
mathematics, theology
philosophical skeptics question whether any necessary and indubitable knowledge exists
the advent of Skepticism has helped to shape and clarify problems in philosophy and to find solutions to these
problems
HISTORY OF SKEPTICISM
Every age in mankind’s history has its own prominent skeptics.
The Pre-Socratic Age
Heraclitus:
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believed that ‘everything is in a state of flux’ (always changing)
argued that no one can step twice into the same river (the person and the river are changing)
implication: nothing is fixed or static, and so there is nothing like unchanging truth or unchanging
reality
Xenophanes:
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believed there is no valid criterion for knowledge
if anyone comes across truth, he/she would not be able to distinguish it from error
therefore, knowledge is impossible
The Sophists e.g. Georgias
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doubted whether anything exists
if anything did exists, we could not know it, and if we knew it, we would not be able to communicate it to others
therefore knowing things is not possible
Socrates
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believed that “All I know is that I know nothing.”
claimed to know nothing for certain
was fascinated to prove to others that they did not know what they thought they knew
The Pyrrhonian School
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established in the Roman Empire era
owes its origins to Pyrrho of Elis (c.360-270 BC)
Pyrrho refused to commit himself to any doctrines about reality
he tried to achieve happiness and peace of mind by accepting appearances
the Pyrrhonian goal is to achieve ‘ataraxia’ (unperturbedness or true peace of mind)
‘ataraxia’ was achieved by suspending judgment on all things that go beyond sense experience and appearances
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in medicine, a Pyrrhonian would doubt whether diseases have causes and also doubt whether they don’t !!
The Medieval Period
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this period was affected by a Christianised Roman Empire
St. Augustine maintained that skepticism can only be overcome by revelation and faith
The Renaissance and Reformation Period (15th and 16th Centuries AD)
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saw a strong revival of classical Greek writings and Greek skeptical arguments
skepticism turned to religious discussions
Erasmus, for example, argued that the problem of Free Will was too complex for the human mind to grasp
he recommended suspension of judgment, and urged the acceptance of the Church’s views on it
his stance was criticized by Martin Luther who argued that a Christian cannot be a skeptic
the question however remains: How can religious truths be proved beyond doubt?
The 16th Century
Montaigne (a French philosopher)
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questioned the ability of human beings to understand anything
real knowledge can be gained only through faith and revelation
only God can provide some indubitable first principle on which we can base our human knowledge
Rene Descartes
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attempted to overcome all doubt by establishing an absolutely certain basis for knowledge
applied the skeptical argument, where he doubted everything, even his own existence
claimed he discovered an indubitable truth through realizing that he was doubting: “I think, therefore I exist” (Cogito
ergo sum)
the process of doubting makes one very clearly aware of his/her existence
however, the Cartesian Cogito raised new forms of skepticism
Gassendi, for example, noted that either the Cogito is just an uninteresting factual truth, or it is filled with problems
He analysed the Cogito critically until it changed to: “I may have thought, therefore I may exist.” ( a very skeptical
position)
While Descartes claimed that the Cogito was a clear and distinct idea, Gassendi questioned whether we can really tell
that an idea IS clear and distinct, or we can only tell that some idea appears to us to be clear and distinct
Hume, Kant and Russell continued with skeptical arguments. Read about them if you can.
THE USE OF SKEPTICISM IN PHILOSOPHY AND EDUCATION
Criticism
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skepticism has often been criticized and refuted in the history of philosophy
skeptical arguments largely contradict common sense and ordinary beliefs about knowledge
they provide no answers (in fact, they deny that there are certain answers to any question)
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Strengths
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the strength of skepticism is in its questioning of dogmatic views in philosophy and life
skeptics avoid stating anything with certainty, as doing so would contradict their basic principle that “We cannot
know anything for sure.”
skepticism thus queries our grounds for knowledge
in doing so, skeptics force people to look out for and eliminate contradictions and inconsistencies in their knowledge
systems
skepticism serves as a challenge for philosophy to remain honest
it takes advantage of disillusionments – where people discover that a lot of what they held as true was in fact not
true
it therefore leads to a continual re-examination of philosophical claims (literally keeps philosophers on their toes!!)
it has been a dynamic force in intellectual history, making people justify their positions and claims
it enables us to distinguish between meaningful beliefs and mere prejudice or pure superstition
in education, a level of skepticism keeps us questioning what we teach (Is it true? Is it certain? Is it defensible?)
it also assists learners to gain better understanding by querying the information they receive or come across, and
finding appropriate ways of verifying it
total skepticism may, however, be very counterproductive as it makes the person to believe that no knowledge is
possible
SOME REFERENCES
Cornman, J.W. and Lehrer, K. (1974) Philosophical Problems and Arguments: An Introduction. MacMillan: New York.
Edwards, P. (Ed.) (1967) The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Collier-MacMillan: London.
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