SKEPTICISM • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Skepticism

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/skˈɛptɪsˌɪzəm/ Listen

noun

Skepticism n. (Written also scepticism)

An undecided, inquiring state of mind; doubt; uncertainty. "That momentary amazement, and irresolution, and confusion, which is the result of skepticism."

(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.

(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."

See images of 'Skepticism'

Etymology of 'Skepticism'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Skepticism" Quotes from Famous Books

... some skepticism. "It was not the Hurons, but their rivals, the Ottawas, who would have sent you to the stake," I explained curtly. "The Hurons—those of the Baron's band—would have held you as ...

— Montlivet • Alice Prescott Smith

... are great feeder-dams to infidelity and skepticism is demonstrated by the infidel productions of the day. The dogma of ecclesiastic authority set up in opposition to reason and scientific discovery is the infidel's devil, and a very poor devil at that. For, when the Pope has interfered to settle ...

— The Christian Foundation, June, 1880

... of a footprint, with a hue very like that of blood. It was a twilight sort of a place, beneath a porch, which was much overshadowed by trees and shrubbery. It might have been blood; but he rather thought, in his wicked skepticism, that it was a natural, reddish stain in the stone. He measured his own foot, however, ...

— Sketches and Studies • Nathaniel Hawthorne

... diurnal interests. At last I felt myself once more a human being; and though the riddle of what is meant by life remained unsolved I was thankful for this return from the abyss—this deliverance from so awful an initiation into the mysteries of skepticism. ...

— The Varieties of Religious Experience • William James

... If I have been sent by God to make men believe, He will give me power to make them believe. Jesus Christ didn't have that power; it is the work of the Holy Ghost; we cannot persuade men and overcome skepticism and infidelity unless we are baptised with the Holy ...

— Men of the Bible • Dwight Moody

More quotes...