Skepticism

Overview:

Michael Shermer is a modern day skeptic who is known for looking, with a critical eye, at some of the weird things people believe. Shermer's rational skepticism is an updated view of knowledge that has its beginnings in ancient Greece. The old traditional skeptics would say that all knowledge is impossible. However, this raises the question of how one might know that all knowledge is impossible. So Shermer takes a more limited view of skepticism. In this week's reading, imagine how skepticism could be applied to new claims that you might have encountered and about which you may have some doubts.

Objectives:

After this module, you should be able to:

• Explain Shermer's skepticism.
• Analyze the arguments put forth by Shermer.
• Debate the ideas presented by Shermer.
• Demonstrate an understanding of skepticism.
• Communicate ideas in the video and reading to your classmates.