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The End of Skepticism
People are often drawn to skepticism as a safe haven on
the reasoning, either explicit or implicit, that, so long as one avoids
taking a position, one at least avoids the risk of being wrong. This paper
demonstrates why this reasoning is incorrect by distinguishing dogmatic from aporetic skepticism and skeptical arguments from the
justifications for those arguments, using as an example the Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi.
The conclusion is that, to the extent that skepticism succeeds in causing
universal doubt, it is precluded from establishing that doubt is better than
unjustified belief. It can provide a haven, but not a safe one. |