What is the difference between a skeptic and someone who questions everything? Barnabas Piper provides a nice distinction: “There’s a fine line…between being someone who questions things and being a skeptic. In fact, many people would call someone who questions everything a skeptic. Here’s the thing; I don’t think many skeptics actually question anything. They may phrase their challenges as questions, but their heart is set on rejection and disproving. To truly question something is to pose questions to it and about it for the sake of understanding. This may lead to disproving or rejecting, but the heart behind it is in learning.”[1]
I think we could break down the differences between a questioner and a skeptic as follows:
Questioner: Desire to learn
Skeptic: Desire to reject/disprove accepted truth claims
Questioner: Primarily interested in maximizing true beliefs
Skeptic: Primarily interested in avoiding false beliefs
Questioner: Engage thinking
Skeptic: Avoid thinking
HT: STR
[1]Barnabas Piper, “The Unskeptical Questioner”; available from http://www.barnabaspiper.com/2011/11/unskeptical-questioner.html; Internet; accessed 10 November 2011.
November 16, 2011 at 3:13 am
I disagree on the last point. But agree to the rest.
The way I see it (in the context of the EU say) is that I am a skeptic. I already know that the EU is bad and will learn more in order to prove it. I wouldn’t say I avoid thinking of it though. Of course, you could argue that the label “eurosceptic” no longer fits the actual definition.