Thomas Reid’s Engagement with Skeptics and Skepticism

Abstract

Rene van Woudenberg Engagement with skeptical problems, as a means of resisting skepticism, may take various forms. First, one may try to convince skeptics that their skeptical conclusion is false. Second, one may try to identify certain assumptions underlying the skeptical argument that may initially seem unobjectionable but that cannot withstand close scrutiny. Third, one may try to take up the skeptical challenge and offer an argument for the denial of the skeptical conclusion, or for the weaker thesis that it is not irresponsible or irrational to accept the denial of the skeptical conclusion. I call these engagements convincing the skeptic, exposing the skeptical argument, and countervailing the skeptical conclusion, respectively. In this chapter, I will review Thomas Reid’s engagement with skeptics and skepticism under these three headings. Before starting out, I first provide some basic information about Reid, and next reflect on the interrelations between the three forms of...