Skepticism

Overview

Skepticism is about doubt, and doubt is everywhere in the world around us today. There are doubts about whether man-made climate change is real, whether vaccinations are harmful, whether we can trust our politicians or our media, and so on. When is such skepticism warranted, and when does it stray into unreasonable territory? How widespread can such skepticism get while still being coherent? How might a radical skepticism have pernicious social consequences, such as by leading to relativism (and just what is relativism, and what is problematic about it)? 

These are all questions that we will be engaging with in this Skepticism offered by Coursera in partnership with University of California Irvine. Along the way we will consider some important philosophical issues, such as what the nature of knowledge is, whether there are any good arguments that show that knowledge is impossible, and how a moderate skepticism might accord with an ancient conception of the good life of human flourishing, one that essentially involves the intellectual virtues. 

In this course, learners will:

• Explore the concept of Skepticism

• Discuss the role of Skepticism in contemporary society

• Identify common responses to Skepticism

• Compare/Contrast various forms of Skepticism

• Apply knowledge of Skepticism to form a personal stance 

• Recognize why knowledge is more than just true belief