Radical Skepticism and Scientism
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Radical Skepticism and Scientism
Ashleigh Williams
Grand Canyon University
PHI-103
LanellMaria
Mason
February 8
th
, 2023
2
Radical skepticism (also known as external-world skepticism) and scientism are two
philosophical perspectives that have been widely discussed throughout the years. In this essay, I
will discuss how radical skepticism and scientism have been used to challenge accepted beliefs
and examine the nature of reality. I will explore how radical skepticism is used to question the
validity of our knowledge about the external world, and how scientism is used to give scientific
knowledge a privileged status in our understanding of the world. By comparing and contrasting
these two beliefs, I will explore how they can be used to help us better understand our knowledge
of the external world. In doing so, I will identify both the strengths and weaknesses of each
perspective.
The philosophical stance that all knowledge is speculative or implausible is known as
radical skepticism. It is predicated on the idea that no one can be certain of anything, including
the validity of reason, the presence of the outside world, and the dependability of memory and
perception (
Comesaña & Klein, 2019)
. It indicates that nothing can be known with certainty and
is the most extreme kind of skepticism. Any belief we may have about the world, whether it be
about God, ourselves, others, or the planet, is also questionable because knowledge is inherently
speculative. This implies that we can never be confident of our views, which forces us to base
our moral and ethical actions on ideas about which we are uncertain. This means that there is no
objective truth and that our views ultimately rest on personal judgments
(Comesaña & Klein,
2019
). Radical skepticism is problematic from a Christian point of view since it indicates that
nothing can be known for sure. This runs counter to Christian doctrine that there is an
unchangeable truth and a knowable God who has revealed Himself via the Bible and other
sources of revelation. Furthermore, radical skepticism suggests that knowledge is impossible, but
the Christian worldview emphasizes the value of knowledge and the necessity to pursue it.
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Finally, radical skepticism suggests that we can never be sure of anything, but the Christian
worldview emphasizes the value of faith and confidence in God. In general, radical skepticism is
a philosophical perspective with broad ramifications for knowledge and everyday life (
Comesaña
& Klein, 2019)
. It is problematic from a Christian point of view since it indicates that nothing
can be known with certainty, which runs counter to Christianity's belief in an unchangeable truth.
This contradicts the Christian focus on faith and trust in God since it suggests that our views are
grounded in our personal thoughts.
Scientism is a philosophical perspective that contends that philosophy and religion should
be rejected in favor of science as the only trustworthy sources of knowledge. According to
scientism, all information can be reduced to scientific facts and hypotheses, and any knowledge
that is not based on science is false (Moreland, 2018). Scientism holds that philosophy and
religion are not valid sources of information and that science is the only trustworthy source of
knowledge. The scope of knowledge is thus constrained by scientism, which boils down all
information to its scientific constituents (Moreland, 2018). Due to this, some have claimed that
scientism breeds a certain level of intellectual haughtiness, where science is viewed as the only
reliable source of information and all other sources are deemed to be unimportant. There are
several issues with scientism from a Christian point of view. First, all knowledge that is not
scientific in nature is invalidated by scientism. This presents a difficulty since it limits all
knowledge to its scientific components and invalidates all other types of information, including
philosophical and religious knowledge (Garrison, 2022). This means that scientism effectively
rejects both the legitimacy of faith and religious belief as well as the reality of God. Second,
scientism overvalues scientific knowledge and downplays the significance of other types of
information. While scientific information is unquestionably crucial, it is not the only type of
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knowledge; other types of knowledge, like those found in literature, philosophy, and religion, are
also crucial for comprehending the universe. Scientism fails to acknowledge the significance of
these other forms of knowledge in comprehending the universe by rejecting their validity. Last
but not least, scientism ignores the boundaries of science (Garrison, 2022). Though science is
able to explain a large portion of our environment, it does not encompass all of it. Questions like
the purpose of life and the nature of reality cannot be answered by science.
Radical skepticism and scientism are incongruous with the Christian worldview since
they both contest the veracity of any knowledge that isn't based on what can be seen. The
Christian worldview, which holds that there is an external source of truth, namely God, who
exposes his truth through his word, the Bible, is directly at odds with this. Any conviction in
radical skepticism or scientism is therefore incompatible with the Christian worldview since it
ultimately leads to a contempt for the reliability of the Bible.
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References
Comesaña, J., & Klein, P. (2019, December 5).
Skepticism
. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Retrieved February 8, 2023, from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/skepticism/#toc
Garrison, L. (2022, April 20).
Why scientism can't explain morality or Reality
. Cairn University.
Retrieved February 8, 2023, from https://cairn.edu/why-scientism-cant-explain-morality-
or-reality/
Moreland, J. P. (2018, September 24).
What is scientism?
Crossway. Retrieved February 8, 2023,
from https://www.crossway.org/articles/what-is-scientism/