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skepticism - 4 dictionary results

skep⋅ti⋅cism

  [skep-tuh-siz-uhm]
Use skepticism in a Sentence
–noun
1. skeptical attitude or temper; doubt.
2. doubt or unbelief with regard to a religion, esp. Christianity.
3. (initial capital letter) the doctrines or opinions of philosophical Skeptics; universal doubt.
Also, scepticism.

Origin:
1640–50; < NL scepticismus, equiv. to L sceptic(us) skeptic + -ismus -ism

Synonyms:
1. questioning, probing, testing. 2. disbelief, atheism, agnosticism.

Antonyms:
2. faith.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To skepticism
skep·ti·cism also scep·ti·cism   (skěp'tĭ-sĭz'əm)   
n.  
  1. A doubting or questioning attitude or state of mind; dubiety. See Synonyms at uncertainty.
  2. Philosophy
    1. The ancient school of Pyrrho of Elis that stressed the uncertainty of our beliefs in order to oppose dogmatism.
    2. The doctrine that absolute knowledge is impossible, either in a particular domain or in general.
    3. A methodology based on an assumption of doubt with the aim of acquiring approximate or relative certainty.
  3. Doubt or disbelief of religious tenets.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Skepticism

Skep"ti*cism\, n. [Cf. F. scepticisme.] [Written also scepticism.]

1. An undecided, inquiring state of mind; doubt; uncertainty.

That momentary amazement, and irresolution, and confusion, which is the result of skepticism. --Hune.

2. (Metaph.) The doctrine that no fact or principle can be certainly known; the tenet that all knowledge is uncertain; Pyrrohonism; universal doubt; the position that no fact or truth, however worthy of confidence, can be established on philosophical grounds; critical investigation or inquiry, as opposed to the positive assumption or assertion of certain principles.

3. (Theol.) A doubting of the truth of revelation, or a denial of the divine origin of the Christian religion, or of the being, perfections, or truth of God.

Let no . . . secret skepticism lead any one to doubt whether this blessed prospect will be realized. --S. Miller.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : skepticism
Spanish: escepticismo,
German: die Skepsis,
Japanese: 懐疑
More Translations »

skepticism

In philosophy, the position that what cannot be proved by reason should not be believed. One of the main tasks of epistemology is to find an answer to the charge of some extreme skeptics that no knowledge is possible.

The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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