Chapter 3 Examples Of Absolute Skepticism

The central issue discussed in chapter 7 of the book Questions that Matter by Miller is skepticism. Commonsense skepticism, philosophical skepticism, and absolute skepticism are three kinds of skepticism that are further explained. Commonsense skepticism is a corrective to gullibility, superstition, and prejudice. Philosophical skepticism is the tendency of some philosophers to deny or doubt the more cherished philosophical claims. The most troublesome one, though, is absolute skepticism, which is the possibility of knowledge itself being denied or doubted. The classic Skeptic, also known as Pyrrho of Elis, is the best example of someone who claims denial in the fact that we know anything. He explains it in three short ways. The first is that nothing exists. The second is that if something did exist, we could never know it. Third and last, if we could know it, we could never express it. His main source came from the Sophists and their view
that since knowledge is just subjective and relative, there is no absolute or common knowledge whatsoever. Hume was another skeptic. His view is called phenomenalism, or philosophical skepticism, which is the type of skepticism that denies that knowledge of metaphysical principles and relations is possible. St. Augustine is best known for his skepticism refutations during the medieval period. He argued instead for the certitude of logical truths, mathematical truths, the reality of the world, and one’s own immediate perceptions. This issue is a worldview issue because this absolute skepticism assertion of not knowing anything is completely self-contradictory.
If it is true, well then it must be false. Stating that one knows nothing is stating that one thing one does know is that one does not know anything. Pyrrho tried to retort this criticism but his response of even him not being certain of not being certain of anything is a circular argument. The world would not be able to function the way it does now if we all believed that nothing exists, and if it did, we would not know it, or be able to express it. Every sound human believes that they are real and exist currently in this time. No one can consistently and significantly live as if one truly expected the world to be radically divergent than it was a few mere minutes ago. Another reason why it is an issue is because it rejects epistemology, which is the study of knowledge. While “knowing” is not a simple matter, the question becomes not whether we can know, but what, how, and how much we can
know. A personal approach to this issue is that life is going to go on the way it is and always has been. Philosophers are going to question what they want to question. Scientists are going to discover more solid evidence about life. Opinions will rise that not everyone agrees with. Therefore, it is up to Christians to defend our faith to these non-believing people and show that God does exist. Christians can express his existence through their daily lives and interactions with others.