Limits of Skepticism
The concept of skepticism has emerged as an attempt to oppose specific notions, assumptions, and processes that do not have grounds. Therefore, skeptical people are those who have doubts about specific issues. Being skeptical about the judgments of other people implies a possibility to refute the issue. It also implies that they cannot claim or specific assumptions because of inadequate reasoning or explanation.
Because it is impossible to be confident in everything, people can be skeptical about everything. However, questions arise concerning the possibilities of prejudice all existing knowledge. There are schools of thought that claiming that all existing knowledge is always uncertain. It is of particular concern to Cicero, who played a major role in shaping the concept of skepticism and uncertainty. Despite these philosophical underpinnings, there were schools of thought that were inclined to think that the boundaries of uncertainty exist.
Specific attention deserves Pyrrhonic School that manages to establish the limits of uncertainty. In particular, the fact that a person claims with certainty that he/she knows nothing establishes the boundaries of uncertainty. Further development of philosophical claims allowed the Pyrrhnoic skeptics to prove that all the claims could be refuted.
For instance, I agree with the claims introduced by Descartes. In particular, the philosopher’s famous claim, “I think, and therefore I am” is full of certainty. Hence, a person perceives the world through a thinking process, which is the evidence of his/her existence. Also, it is possible to prove that something exists because it can be opposed to nothing. Therefore, the existence of opposite notions is certain evidence itself of existence. While using similar approaches, it is possible to establish the boundaries of uncertainty in all spheres of knowledge.
Truth and Limits of Knowledge
On the one hand, there is an assumption that the world exists outside our minds and that it is absolute in its origins and epistemological meaning. On the other hand, the world can be regarded as a set of individuals’ experiences and responses to the surrounding worlds. The latter assumption creates some challenges and controversies because the world is not always presented in the way people perceive it.
It is of particular to cases when one’s attitude to an object is premised on the perception of other people (Audi, 2010). Such a perspective also undermines the possibilities of human awareness of the truth. However, several certain facts justify the existence of the truth, as well as possibilities for individuals to perceive the world as it is.
Taking into consideration the fact humans are part of the world, they can also be considered part of the absolute reality. As a result, the way people understand and perceive reality is also a part of the process of reality formation. Besides, the fact that the majority of people accept the world similarly also justifies the fact that humans are capable of conceiving true knowledge. Another problem concerns the concepts of thinking and sensing.
Thus, Descartes premises on the idea that thinking is the evidence of existence. In contrast, sensing cannot be considered as evidence of human existence because individuals have different degrees of perception. However, the very fact of human’s ability to feel and express emotion can also testify to the existence of emotions, which is also a part of absolute reality.
Reference
Audi, R. (2010). Epistemology: A Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge. US: Taylor & Francis.