According to Webster, "Skepticism" is the philosophical doctrine that the attainment of absolute knowledge is impossible. It comes from the Greek word skeptesthai meaning "to examine," and the practice was brought about during the elementary stages of philosophy by Pyrrho sometime between 360-270 b.c. Some other well-known skeptics are Xenophanes, Gorgias, and Sextus Empiricus. Skepticism is very common in today's society, and is practiced in some way by all. If you are alive and functioning on this planet, you'll find that it is difficult to avoid being skeptic in one way or another.96Pyrrho was an ancient Greek philosopher, who introduced pure skepticism into Greek philosophy, founded the school known as Pyrrhonism, and is considered to be the founder of philosophical skepticism. Not much is known about Pyrrho, because he left no writings and was regarded by some to be a distant person who was not aware of things around him, not even his teacher being stuck in a ditch as told in a story by Greek biographer Diogenes Laeritus. But to some he was a sensible, level-headed individual. Pyrrho's theory held that it is not only impossible to know whether our perceptions are truthful, but equally impossible to find rational ground for preferring one course of action to any another. Such skepticism was useful during Pyrrho's time; if nothing was provably wrong, one could legitimately accept the customs or religion of whoever was in power. He also believed that each theory had it's own contradictory argument, so he suspended judgment on all events.161The roots of skepticism are also believed to be accredited to Xenophanes, a philosopher and poet of Asia Minor. He believed that if truth were stated. It could not be known In his writings Xenophanes cleverly satirized the polytheistic beliefs of earlier Greek poets and of his own contemporaries. He ridiculed their deities as gods created in the image of the mortals who worshiped them...
