PHI 103 Radical Skepticism and Scientism Reflection PDF

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Radical Skepticism and Scientism Reflection...

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1 Abigail Schaub PHI 103 May 17, 2020 Radical Skepticism and Scientism Reflection The two topics of radical, or external world skepticism, as well as scientism are extremely important to the philosophical world. On one hand, we have the topic of external world skepticism that questions the idea of there being a world or universe other than that of the physical one that humans live and walk in every day and on the other hand, we have scientism which focuses solely on physical and natural sciences to conduct research. Both of these correlates with one another due to the fact that both of them set their main focus on the idea that the physical being of the world is key to discovering the truth about the world itself. Distinguishing between the two ideas may seem difficult from the surface level due to the fact that both of them can sometimes get mistaken for the other; however, if there is enough attention to the deeper details, it would be prominent that both ideas, through their similarities, actually have some major differences that distinguish them from the other. In this essay, each key topic will be specifically looked at separately and then both topics will be looked at collectively to discover the similarities and differences between the two. The first topic, external world skepticism, is based on the idea that a world outside of the physical one that humans live and breathe in today is technically unknown and therefore cannot be lived in or proven. What I mean by technically unknown is that each external world is different for each person as each person has their own thoughts in the minds and any other world is not evident to them. In a deeper sense, external world skepticism is “the claim that the only evidence directly available to the mind is its own contents, such as thoughts, perceptions, desires,

2 etc.,” (Mattey, 2015). This would entail that to one person, their external world would look quite a bit different than another person’s external world just due to the simple fact that their internal, or true, worlds are different in their own minds. This idea makes it challenging for people to believe in other worlds apart from their own that is inside their minds. This is also a reason why religion is a huge debate because there is no physical evidence for people to hold onto about a world outside of their own, meaning heaven. This idea of not being able to physically feel or prove something relates to the topic of scientism. Scientism is very direct and specific. When looking at science, it is based on the physical and natural matter of things, which is exactly the idea behind scientism. It is “based on the belief that natural science has authority over all other interpretations of life, and that the methods of natural science form the only proper elements in any philosophical (or other) inquiry,” (Branch/Doctrine n.d.) Within a philosophical sense, most scientific philosophers believe that without science, one can simple not have knowledge. The problem with scientism is the fact that it is so focused on the idea that science proves all that it becomes dangerous when “words like “science” and “scientific” are used uncritically as honorific terms of epistemic praise,” (Blog of APA, 2018) Science is mostly encouraged in philosophy as a way to prove one’s proposition using physical matter. In a biblical sense, this contradicts any religious or spiritual connection. A Christian worldview is based on the idea of living one’s life through faith. Without having faith, one does not, or cannot, believe that God exists. Because scientism is based on the thought of having physical proof in order to have proper knowledge, religion and scientism clash. On another hand, some Christians will argue that God created everything, which means that God also created science, which is a natural matter of proof for God’s existence. Though this is broad and may be

3 seen as contradictory, there is no right or wrong answer for it as it has not been physical proven or bunked. Overall, scientism and external world skepticism can go hand in hand when it comes to a philosophical sense. As far as differentiating, scientism believes that science is the only way to have pure knowledge whereas external world skepticism believes that the knowledge that people have comes from within their own personal minds as each of their worlds are different. In a philosophical sense, it is important to be able to distinguish between the two in an argument Both can clash with a Christian Worldview but, ultimately, it is up to the individual to decide if they believe that either scientism or radical skepticism is the way to discover philosophical truth.

4 Refences Blog of APA (January 24, 2018). The Problem with Scientism. Retrieved from: https://blog.apaonline.org/2018/01/25/the-problem-with-scientism/

Branch Doctrine. (n.d.). The Basics of Philosophy: Introduction. Retrieved from: https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_scientism.html

Mattey, G.J. (May 28, 2015). Contemporary Epistemology. Retrieved from: http://hume.ucdavis.edu/mattey/phi102/contemp6.html...