Are you skeptical of skepticism?

“There’s no such thing as truth.”

What is wrong with this statement? Well, it’s a statement that is presented as being factual (true) and yet it’s claiming that there is no such thing as truth. The statement refutes itself. Claims or statements like this one create what is known as a self-refuting paradox: the claim could only be true if it were false!

The frequently asked question “are you skeptical of skepticism?” also attempts to create or illustrate the same sort of paradox. If a person is not skeptical of skepticism then they are not being skeptical; thus any claim to being a skeptic must be false. i.e. they are being as dogmatic in their acceptance of skepticism as any ‘believer’ who accepts their particular belief without question. And if they are skeptical of skepticism, then what good reason do they have for advocating something they are skeptical of? If they’re skeptical of the paranormal and skeptical of skepticism, what’s the difference? (more…)