What does scepticism mean?
Definitions for scepticism
ˈskɛp təˌsɪz əmscep·ti·cism
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word scepticism.
Princeton's WordNet
agnosticism, skepticism, scepticismnoun
the disbelief in any claims of ultimate knowledge
Wikipedia
scepticism
Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the person doubts that these claims are accurate. In such cases, skeptics normally recommend not disbelief but suspension of belief, i.e. maintaining a neutral attitude that neither affirms nor denies the claim. This attitude is often motivated by the impression that the available evidence is insufficient to support the claim. Formally, skepticism is a topic of interest in philosophy, particularly epistemology. More informally, skepticism as an expression of questioning or doubt can be applied to any topic, such as politics, religion, or pseudoscience. It is often applied within restricted domains, such as morality (moral skepticism), atheism (skepticism about the existence of God), or the supernatural. Some theorists distinguish "good" or moderate skepticism, which seeks strong evidence before accepting a position, from "bad" or radical skepticism, which wants to suspend judgment indefinitely. Philosophical skepticism is one important form of skepticism. It rejects knowledge claims that seem certain from the perspective of common sense. Radical forms of philosophical skepticism deny that "knowledge or rational belief is possible and urge us to suspend judgment on many or all controversial matters." More moderate forms claim only that nothing can be known with certainty, or that we can know little or nothing about nonempirical matters, such as whether God exists, whether human beings have free will, or whether there is an afterlife. In ancient philosophy, skepticism was understood as a way of life associated with inner peace. Skepticism has been responsible for many important developments in science and philosophy. It has also inspired several contemporary social movements. Religious skepticism advocates for doubt concerning basic religious principles, such as immortality, providence, and revelation. Scientific skepticism advocates for testing beliefs for reliability, by subjecting them to systematic investigation using the scientific method, to discover empirical evidence for them.
ChatGPT
scepticism
Scepticism, also spelled skepticism, is a philosophical or scientific attitude of questioning or doubting the authenticity or validity of certain knowledge or beliefs. It is the inclination towards doubt or incredulity, rather than accepting information without questioning its facts, truth or assumptions. Skeptics usually require strong evidence before accepting any claim as true.
Webster Dictionary
Scepticism
etc. See Skeptic, Skeptical, Skepticism, etc
The Nuttall Encyclopedia
Scepticism
primarily doubt respecting, and ultimately disbelief in, the reality of the super-sensible, or the transcendental, or the validity of the evidence on which the belief in it is founded, such as reason or revelation, and in religious matters is tantamount to infidelity more or less sweeping.
Usage in printed sourcesFrom:
- [["1515","1"],["1524","1"],["1581","6"],["1584","2"],["1607","2"],["1635","2"],["1644","10"],["1648","1"],["1679","3"],["1696","2"],["1701","1"],["1705","1"],["1706","2"],["1708","1"],["1711","1"],["1712","1"],["1715","2"],["1717","3"],["1719","1"],["1720","2"],["1722","1"],["1724","1"],["1725","1"],["1726","3"],["1727","4"],["1728","8"],["1729","2"],["1730","7"],["1731","8"],["1732","4"],["1733","4"],["1734","3"],["1735","3"],["1736","4"],["1737","9"],["1738","5"],["1739","3"],["1740","3"],["1741","1"],["1742","8"],["1743","16"],["1744","6"],["1745","8"],["1746","7"],["1747","4"],["1748","8"],["1749","17"],["1750","12"],["1751","82"],["1752","15"],["1753","18"],["1754","58"],["1755","38"],["1756","43"],["1757","11"],["1758","63"],["1759","20"],["1760","26"],["1761","10"],["1762","4"],["1763","30"],["1764","71"],["1765","19"],["1766","20"],["1767","47"],["1768","79"],["1769","93"],["1770","72"],["1771","83"],["1772","102"],["1773","98"],["1774","89"],["1775","57"],["1776","196"],["1777","94"],["1778","162"],["1779","112"],["1780","25"],["1781","52"],["1782","52"],["1783","80"],["1784","28"],["1785","196"],["1786","121"],["1787","119"],["1788","179"],["1789","111"],["1790","137"],["1791","190"],["1792","143"],["1793","238"],["1794","240"],["1795","77"],["1796","101"],["1797","116"],["1798","167"],["1799","148"],["1800","191"],["1801","424"],["1802","296"],["1803","393"],["1804","322"],["1805","273"],["1806","404"],["1807","601"],["1808","313"],["1809","473"],["1810","470"],["1811","424"],["1812","758"],["1813","348"],["1814","505"],["1815","352"],["1816","403"],["1817","556"],["1818","750"],["1819","593"],["1820","874"],["1821","532"],["1822","953"],["1823","1084"],["1824","1387"],["1825","1082"],["1826","1016"],["1827","1025"],["1828","934"],["1829","1440"],["1830","999"],["1831","1035"],["1832","1054"],["1833","1151"],["1834","1140"],["1835","1417"],["1836","1187"],["1837","1269"],["1838","1191"],["1839","1413"],["1840","1135"],["1841","983"],["1842","868"],["1843","1374"],["1844","1372"],["1845","1557"],["1846","2257"],["1847","1598"],["1848","2305"],["1849","1712"],["1850","2350"],["1851","1970"],["1852","2221"],["1853","2758"],["1854","3490"],["1855","2503"],["1856","2372"],["1857","2013"],["1858","2756"],["1859","1880"],["1860","2456"],["1861","1799"],["1862","2160"],["1863","1967"],["1864","1781"],["1865","2020"],["1866","2449"],["1867","2306"],["1868","1908"],["1869","2428"],["1870","2228"],["1871","2817"],["1872","3006"],["1873","2357"],["1874","2893"],["1875","2866"],["1876","3504"],["1877","3396"],["1878","3099"],["1879","3196"],["1880","3649"],["1881","3520"],["1882","3766"],["1883","3485"],["1884","3873"],["1885","3226"],["1886","2645"],["1887","3265"],["1888","3371"],["1889","3122"],["1890","3527"],["1891","3478"],["1892","3936"],["1893","3584"],["1894","3543"],["1895","3811"],["1896","4765"],["1897","4318"],["1898","4072"],["1899","4517"],["1900","4355"],["1901","4451"],["1902","5902"],["1903","5170"],["1904","4362"],["1905","5011"],["1906","4157"],["1907","4728"],["1908","4028"],["1909","4113"],["1910","3972"],["1911","3221"],["1912","4488"],["1913","3623"],["1914","3293"],["1915","2573"],["1916","2327"],["1917","3055"],["1918","2058"],["1919","2427"],["1920","3227"],["1921","3390"],["1922","3365"],["1923","3442"],["1924","3269"],["1925","3554"],["1926","3022"],["1927","4077"],["1928","3689"],["1929","3420"],["1930","3743"],["1931","3987"],["1932","3246"],["1933","2774"],["1934","3283"],["1935","3308"],["1936","3721"],["1937","3009"],["1938","3169"],["1939","3445"],["1940","3010"],["1941","2225"],["1942","1898"],["1943","1724"],["1944","1523"],["1945","2327"],["1946","3442"],["1947","3093"],["1948","3756"],["1949","4407"],["1950","4096"],["1951","4124"],["1952","5179"],["1953","3993"],["1954","4235"],["1955","4604"],["1956","4512"],["1957","5363"],["1958","5739"],["1959","4706"],["1960","6565"],["1961","6764"],["1962","7769"],["1963","7492"],["1964","7497"],["1965","8560"],["1966","9183"],["1967","9008"],["1968","10684"],["1969","9976"],["1970","9657"],["1971","9148"],["1972","10116"],["1973","9191"],["1974","8651"],["1975","9603"],["1976","9256"],["1977","8922"],["1978","9131"],["1979","9691"],["1980","9488"],["1981","9693"],["1982","10370"],["1983","10259"],["1984","10336"],["1985","11542"],["1986","11947"],["1987","12428"],["1988","13573"],["1989","14021"],["1990","14773"],["1991","14875"],["1992","15830"],["1993","15920"],["1994","15467"],["1995","18047"],["1996","20121"],["1997","19665"],["1998","22709"],["1999","25251"],["2000","28229"],["2001","23224"],["2002","27500"],["2003","30865"],["2004","32858"],["2005","30238"],["2006","36490"],["2007","38735"],["2008","47691"]]
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of scepticism in Chaldean Numerology is: 8
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of scepticism in Pythagorean Numerology is: 8
Examples of scepticism in a Sentence
I'm very skeptical about that, and I think that's a scepticism that many others share.
The market appears to be relieved for now after Greece asked for a loan extension. But Greece is not promising fiscal austerity and Germany has shown scepticism, the market is used to seeing this by now, but if a deal isn't reached today, the euro could face selling pressure and dollar/yen could also see the same as risk appetite will be hurt.
The IT pack has come out with disappointing numbers and it (L&T Infotech) has got listed in an environment when there is lot of scepticism about the IT sector outlook.
We overcame all kinds of scepticism and speculations about this summit and I believe that this is good for the peace, i believe this is a good prelude for peace.
Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom:
We need to have an open and frank discussion about investment protection, the consultation clearly shows that there is a huge scepticism.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for scepticism
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
Get even more translations for scepticism »
Translation
Find a translation for the scepticism definition in other languages:
Select another language:
- - Select -
- 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
- 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
- Español (Spanish)
- Esperanto (Esperanto)
- 日本語 (Japanese)
- Português (Portuguese)
- Deutsch (German)
- العربية (Arabic)
- Français (French)
- Русский (Russian)
- ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
- 한국어 (Korean)
- עברית (Hebrew)
- Gaeilge (Irish)
- Українська (Ukrainian)
- اردو (Urdu)
- Magyar (Hungarian)
- मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
- Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Italiano (Italian)
- தமிழ் (Tamil)
- Türkçe (Turkish)
- తెలుగు (Telugu)
- ภาษาไทย (Thai)
- Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
- Čeština (Czech)
- Polski (Polish)
- Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
- Românește (Romanian)
- Nederlands (Dutch)
- Ελληνικά (Greek)
- Latinum (Latin)
- Svenska (Swedish)
- Dansk (Danish)
- Suomi (Finnish)
- فارسی (Persian)
- ייִדיש (Yiddish)
- հայերեն (Armenian)
- Norsk (Norwegian)
- English (English)
Word of the Day
Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?
Citation
Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"scepticism." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 Nov. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/scepticism>.
Discuss these scepticism definitions with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In