Definition of Skepticism

Skepticism

An undecided, inquiring state of mind; doubt; uncertainty.

The doctrine that no fact or principle can be certainly known; the tenet that all knowledge is uncertain; Pyrrohonism; universal doubt; the position that no fact or truth, however worthy of confidence, can be established on philosophical grounds; critical investigation or inquiry, as opposed to the positive assumption or assertion of certain principles.

A doubting of the truth of revelation, or a denial of the divine origin of the Christian religion, or of the being, perfections, or truth of God.

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Skepticism Quotations

The natural cause of the human mind is certainly from credulity to skepticism.
Thomas Jefferson

Skepticism is a virtue in history as well as in philosophy.
Napoleon Bonaparte

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist.
Jean-Paul Sartre

On the road from the City of Skepticism, I had to pass through the Valley of Ambiguity.
Adam Smith

It is evident that skepticism, while it makes no actual change in man, always makes him feel better.
Ambrose Bierce

Skepticism is the sadism of embittered souls.
Emile M. Cioran

Dogmatism and skepticism are both, in a sense, absolute philosophies; one is certain of knowing, the other of not knowing. What philosophy should dissipate is certainty, whether of knowledge or ignorance.
Bertrand Russell

There is a kind of courtesy in skepticism. It would be an offense against polite conventions to press our doubts too far.
George Santayana

Skepticism, like chastity, should not be relinquished too readily.
George Santayana

The improver of natural knowledge absolutely refuses to acknowledge authority, as such. For him, skepticism is the highest of duties; blind faith the one unpardonable sin.
Thomas Huxley

Do not let yourself be tainted with a barren skepticism.
Louis Pasteur

Skepticism: the mark and even the pose of the educated mind.
John Dewey

Skepticism is the first step on the road to philosophy.
Denis Diderot

The poison of skepticism becomes, like alcoholism, tuberculosis, and some other diseases, much more virulent in a hitherto virgin soil.
Simone Weil

It is the press that has taken these charges and accusations and blown them up without any kind of skepticism whatsoever - blown them into realities and treated them as if they were true.
Dixie Lee Ray

I don't think there was enough skepticism because I think most of us kind of believed that Saddam Hussein was building biological, chemical, and perhaps even, nuclear weapons.
Walter Isaacson

The most striking development of the great depression of 1929 is a profound skepticism of the future of contemporary society among large sections of the American people.
C. L. R. James

The logic of validation allows us to move between the two limits of dogmatism and skepticism.
Paul Ricoeur

The path of sound credence is through the thick forest of skepticism.
George Jean Nathan

I'm the most cynical person, and I know what that sounds like when you say, I don't drink and drive, and I don't. But I know people look at that with skepticism, and I understand.
Tracey Gold

The same principles which at first view lead to skepticism, pursued to a certain point, bring men back to common sense.
George Berkeley

I've encountered a lot of people who sound like critics but very few who have substantive criticisms. There is a lot of skepticism, but it seems to be more a matter of inertia than it is of people having some real reason for thinking something else.
K. Eric Drexler

Where journalists have gotten themselves in trouble over the last few decades is that their skepticism often extends only to American officials, the U.S. military and Republican politicians.
Linda Chavez

Well, I had a small degree, that little infection of skepticism about America which resides in the minds of even America's closest friends. That America can't be quite as good as it says it is. And why does it need so relentlessly to keep saying how good it is?
Robert MacNeil

Skepticism has never founded empires, established principals, or changed the world's heart. The great doers in history have always been people of faith.
Edwin Hubbel Chapin

The capacity to combine commitment with skepticism is essential to democracy.
Mary Catherine Bateson

People have moved beyond apathy, beyond skepticism into deep cynicism.
Elliot Richardson

My position now, especially in this town, adds an element of skepticism with people you meet - especially girls. I mean, it becomes a lot more difficult.
Jason Biggs

Investors should start with a view of skepticism. They should become intellectual investors rather than emotional investors. They should be careful, and they should be skeptical.
Arthur Levitt

Somehow liberals have been unable to acquire from life what conservatives seem to be endowed with at birth: namely, a healthy skepticism of the powers of government agencies to do good.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan

More Skepticism Quotations

Skepticism Translations

skepticism in German is Skepsis
skepticism in Italian is scetticismo

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