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The discussion question is as follows:
Do you think that skepticism is therapeutic by having a release from anxiety or do you find it more of a coping mechanism used to avoid life's problems?
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Group 3 (01)
The last time that our group met, we discussed the interesting and intense philosophy of skepticism. We had a prolonged discussion about the very nature of being a skeptic. It took all of us quite sometime to actually flesh out skepticism itself. After doing this, we were able to produce two questions.
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I believe skepticism is coping mechanism, not to avoid life's problems, but to view life's problems from different angles, and therefore to understand life's problems better, from a less bias point of view.
ReplyDeleteI guess skepticism could be somewhat therapeutic since you dont stress about anything, you dont need a release from anxiety. Either way im not crazy about skepticism in its entirety. I can respect it but i dont wholeheartedly understand how someone could be skeptical about everything to the point where they dont believe anything!
ReplyDeleteI think skepticism is theraputic if you are questioning with inentions of obtaining the right answer. i think some of the skeptics just questioned things because they didnt agree and they had no plans on agreeing. some things are point blank and cant be further argued. even Socrates believed that the answer was out there, even though he acknowledged that he didnt have the answers. Skepticism is theraputic, but that relief is limited if you dont look for an answer. then skepticism itself becomes the burden. Because all you have are questions without answers, there's no "method to the madness".
ReplyDeletei beleive that skepticism is a bit of both. not evrybody is the same therefore not everyone's opinions and views will be the same. it can be theraputic because you question. there is nothing wrong with questioning, its just do you have a legitament reason or cause to question?? however, for those who simply choose to question everything without reasonable cause, i feel abuse skepticism. for you to question everything and not believe in anything is an easy way out.
ReplyDeleteIt's probably a bit of both. The earliest skeptics, I think, did use this "belief in no beliefs" as a way to reject the rapidly expanding school of thought surrounding them - as a sort of rebellion, you could say. In that light, I would say that it's an easy way out of choosing any sides, to just eject yourself from the equation altogether. With the evolution of skepticism, though, I'm more inclined to agree with previous posters that as long as skeptics use their (lack of) belief to ask questions instead of shunning life, the philosophy gains more dignity.
ReplyDeleteTo put it concisely, yes, I do think it's therapeutic in a way to relieve yourself from the burden of trying to justify beliefs that have no definite proof. On the other hand, it's also a way of avoiding the problem of committing yourself firmly to one way of thinking and looking at the world. More than anything, it's a way of living that is truly hard to wrap your mind around.
I don't feel as though I completely understand skepticism and I find it hypocritical to believe in the notion of no beliefs except the belief to not believe. Even so, I think that skepticism is therapeutic for its "believers" as well as a coping and/or defense mechanism. Skepticism relieves its followers from the pressures and stresses of having to believe in a set idea. It lets them to take an unbiased view of the world, in a way. It also allows for them to not become trapped in a certain and unbending lifestyle or way of thinking. Their mindset (since I can't really call it beliefs) has room to expand and evolve.
ReplyDeleteI find that skepticism would allow the freedom from bias and thus would be therapeutic in that sense. Having said that, skepticism itself does seem like a contradiction to me. On one hand, skeptics are skeptical of all beliefs, yet, on the other hand, by the nature of skepticism, a person is subscribing to a belief albeit a belief that there isn't anything that can truly be believed. So, I see skepticism as a release in the sense that it allows a person to cope with problems and anxiety while still fulfilling the human societal need to belong to a particular group. The way that I understand skepticism is saying that it is akin to a functionalist who does not believe in any inherit systems in society.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Shannon that the original skeptics saw skepticism as a way to escape the sort of tension that was created from the many new ideas emerging during this time. In this way, skepticism could be therapeutic because it avoids conflict, but it's not necessarily the best thing to do. This skepticism could discourage questioning because ultimately skeptics believe nothing can be answered definitely, and of course questioning seeks some type of answer.
ReplyDeleteI believe modern day skepticism is healthy but not exactly therapeutic. Modern skepticism accepts that there could be a definite answer to certain questions, but they really consider the evidence before coming to any kind of conclusion.