Skepticism Is Defined As a School of Essay

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Skepticism is defined as a school of philosophical thought where a person doubts the beliefs of another person or group. While one person might believe wholeheartedly a certain political perspective or believe completely the dogma of a religion, a skeptic would have doubts about these beliefs or about the stories related to religion. Not only do they doubt organized religion, they also doubt the validity of socially constructed morals and laws. Sometimes they doubt the world as they witness it because they are unsure of the truth of reality as they perceive it through the senses (Butchvarov 1998). Like many philosophies, skepticism has origins in Ancient Greece. Pyrrho of Elis is credited with founding the philosophy, a branch of which was later named Pyrrhonism in his honor. The philosophy was expanded into countries throughout the known world, up to and including the early modern world. During the Enlightenment, skepticism branched out into scientific and religious skepticism. Scientific skepticism questions people who believe things solely based on scientific query. At the same time, religious skepticism questions people who believe things solely based on religious conviction without using any proof to support their belief system.

Rationalism:

The rationalistic school of thought believes that reason is the center of the universe. Reason should be behind everything from governmental decisions to interpersonal relationships. It is believed that rationalism predates Enlightenment, but there is no historical documentation to prove this although it is argued that Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle definitely argued perspectives which align with the rationalist philosophy. During the Enlightenment, philosophers and other intellectual individuals took to rationalism as an extension of concurrent scientific discoveries. They advocated the utilization of rationalism in governmental policy making and advocated "politics of reason" wherein leaders would use rationing in decision making, as well as a separation from religion (Oakeshott 1991).

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Rene Descartes, Gottfried Leibniz, and Baruch Spinoza were three philosophers of the period who popularized the ideals of rationalism in scientific and mathematic articles. These gentlemen believed that you could apply mathematical principles to all aspects of existence, and thereby uncover all the mysteries of the universe. For example, geometry with its exploration of shapes, congruency, and three-dimensional planes could be applied to other questions of logic, in addition to fields such as archaeology. In the eighteenth century, Immanuel Kant helped elaborate on realist principles, including that natural laws are dictated by the perspectives of human beings. There has been a revival of rationalism in recent years, led by Leo Strauss.

Empiricism:

According to the philosophy of empiricism, all of the knowledge that a person acquires during his or her lifetime is because of the various experiences that they have. It is believed that scientific method is directly related to the expansion of empiricism throughout Europe and England. The scientific method is a series of rules which dictate the proper order of scientific inquiry. It also states that all scientific theories should be based on things that we observe through experimentation. People should believe what they can see based upon scientific experimentation and not through hypothesizing without proof. Aristotle is credited as being the first empiricist philosopher. Later on, Niccolo Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini wrote about the perspective which were then rewritten and distributed throughout Europe (Baird & Kaufmann 2008). Other great Renaissance figures also believed in this philosophy, including Leonardo da Vinci, arguably one of the most intelligent men who ever lived. He advocated that people should….....

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