Editing Skepticism (section)

{{Short description|Doubtful attitude toward knowledge claims}}
{{Redirect|Skeptic}}
{{For-multi|denial of uncomfortable truths|Denialism|the band|Skepticism (band)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2020}}

'''Skepticism''' (US) or '''scepticism''' (UK) is a questioning attitude or [[doubt]] toward [[knowledge]] claims that are seen as mere [[belief]] or [[dogma]].<ref>{{cite web|quote=Philosophical views are typically classed as skeptical when they involve advancing some degree of doubt regarding claims that are elsewhere taken for granted.|url=http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/s/skepcont.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113210019/http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/s/skepcont.htm |archive-date=13 January 2009|title=Contemporary Skepticism|website=The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy|first=Duncan|last=Pritchard|year=2006 }}</ref> For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the person doubts that these claims are accurate. In such cases, skeptics normally recommend not disbelief but suspension of belief, i.e. maintaining a neutral attitude that neither affirms nor denies the claim. This attitude is often motivated by the impression that the available [[evidence]] is insufficient to support the claim. Formally, skepticism is a topic of interest in [[philosophy]], particularly [[epistemology]].

More informally, skepticism as an expression of questioning or doubt can be applied to any topic, such as politics, religion, or pseudoscience. It is often applied within restricted domains, such as morality ([[moral skepticism]]), [[atheism]] (skepticism about the [[existence of God]]), or the [[supernatural]].<ref name="Greco2009">{{cite book |last1=Greco |first1=John |title=The Oxford Handbook of Skepticism |date=2 September 2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-518321-4 |pages=3–7 |edition=1 |chapter-url=https://academic.oup.com/edited-volume/28229/chapter-abstract/213259164|chapter-url-access=subscription |language=en |chapter=Introduction|doi=10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195183214.003.0001}}</ref> Some theorists distinguish "good" or moderate skepticism, which seeks strong evidence before accepting a position, from "bad" or radical skepticism, which wants to suspend judgment indefinitely.<ref name="Raynaud1981">{{cite journal |last1=Raynaud |first1=Maurice |title=Skepticism in Medicine: Past and Present |journal=The Linacre Quarterly |date=1 May 1981 |volume=48 |issue=2 |url=https://epublications.marquette.edu/lnq/vol48/iss2/8/ |issn=0024-3639}}</ref><ref name="MeinerSkeptizismus">{{cite book |editor1-last=Sandkühler |editor1-first=Hans Jörg |title=Enzyklopädie Philosophie |date=2010 |publisher=Meiner |url=https://meiner.de/enzyklopadie-philosophie-14071.html|url-access=subscription |chapter=Skepsis/Skeptizismus}}</ref>

[[Philosophical skepticism]] is one important form of skepticism. It rejects knowledge claims that seem certain from the perspective of [[common sense]]. Radical forms of philosophical skepticism deny that "knowledge or rational belief is possible" and urge us to [[suspension of judgment|suspend judgment]] on many or all controversial matters. More moderate forms claim only that nothing can be known with certainty, or that we can know little or nothing about nonempirical matters, such as whether God exists, whether human beings have free will, or whether there is an afterlife. In ancient philosophy, skepticism was understood as a way of life associated with [[inner peace]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bett |first1=Richard Arnot Home |title=The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Scepticism |date=28 January 2010 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-87476-2 |page=289 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5V8pQDsM5poC&pg=PA289 |language=en}}</ref>

Skepticism has been responsible for many important developments in science and philosophy. It has also inspired several contemporary social movements. [[Religious skepticism]] advocates for doubt concerning basic religious principles, such as immortality, [[Divine providence|providence]], and [[revelation]].<ref>{{Cite web|title = skepticism (noun)|url = https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/skepticism|website = Merriam-Webster|access-date = 2016-02-05}}</ref> [[Scientific skepticism]] advocates for testing beliefs for reliability, by subjecting them to [[wikt:systematic|systematic]] investigation using the [[scientific method]], to discover [[empirical evidence]] for them.