The Heuristic Value of Scepticism

Abstract

Epistemology is that branch of philosophy that is concerned with issues that bother on knowledge. One of the critical issues bothering on knowledge that epistemology deals with is the question of certainty and justification of knowledge. This is informed by the somewhat misleading tendencies of the sources of knowledge. This has occasioned a situation in which a group of philosophers known as the sophists have come to the conclusion that knowledge is not possible or that nothing can be known for certain. This is what is referred to in epistemological discourse as scepticism. Scepticism is the epistemological doctrine that denies (in the strong sense) the possibility and (in the mild or moderate sense) the certainty of knowledge. Interestingly however, it has been observed that rather than deny or destroy knowledge as it is probably intended or perceived, scepticism ends up advancing and affirming both the acquisition and justification of knowledge surreptitiously. This informs our thesis that scepticism is a theory of knowledge and an instrument for the advancement, affirmation and consolidation of knowledge altogether. We hope to establish this point through a critical and systematic analysis. Our aim is to establish the point that scepticism, which in a sense is criticism, rather than destroy, builds a system stronger for as long as it is done with an open mind.