Scepticism：A Very Short Introduction

Throughouthistoryscepticismandtheurgetoquestionacceptedtruthshasbeenapowerfulforceforchangeandgrowth.Today,aswearebombardedbyadverts,scientificstudiespraisingthelatestsuperfoods,andpoliticalrhetoric,ahealthyamountofscepticismiswidelyencouraged.Butwhenissuchscepticismlegitimate-forexample,asadriverofnewideas-andwhenisitproblematic?Andwhatrolemightadoptingascepticaloutlookplayinleadinganintellectuallyvirtuouslife?InthisVeryShortIntroductionDuncanPritchardexploresboththeadvantagesofscepticism,inchallengingoutdatednotions,andalsohowitcanhaveunhelpfulsocialconsequences,ingeneratingdistrust.Heconsiderstheroleofscepticismatthesourceofcontemporarysocialandpoliticalmovementssuchasclimatechangedenial,post-truthpolitics,andfakenews.Pritchardalsoexaminesthephilosophicalargumentsforaradicalformofscepticismwhichmaintainsthatknowledgeisimpossible,andexploressomeofthemainresponsestothesearguments.Finally,heconsidersthepartscepticismmightplayinapplyingbetterthinkingandlearningtoachieveamoremeaningfullife.