A Misrepresentation Of Skepticism

Rationalism inevitably involves skepticism about a large number of things, but it refutes total skepticism (total skepticism is self-refuting and logical facts are fully provable).  Somehow, this has been mistaken for something else entirely.  Skepticism is a word often associated with a belief that an ideology is false rather than a belief that something is unknowable or a stance that does not make assumptions about a matter.  In discussions and debates, misunderstanding this can spawn hosts of other misunderstandings or avoidable communication difficulties.

A rationalistic skeptic would not say that a claim of a modern miracle performed by God is false, for example!  They would only acknowledge that there is no way to know if a story of divine interference with nature is true, whether or not there is evidence for it beyond a single isolated testimony.  A rationalistic skeptic is capable of knowing logical facts about the concept of miracles and theism that cannot be false, but this is far from knowing if the content of a specific claim about a miracle occuring is accurate.  However, skeptics would not insist the miracle claims are false.

True skepticism means one neither affirms nor denies that which is not knowable.  Thus, a rational skeptic does not either assume or pretend to know that an idea is false, and doing so would merely expose someone's lack of concern for true rationality.  This contradicts and therefore falsifies the type of "skeptic" sometimes referred to by Christian apologists and everyday people.  For example, a religious skeptic might be mischaracterized as a person who tries to explain away a theological event by appealing to science (which is not even the same as logic to begin with), when a skeptic would rightfully claim an ultimate position of uncertainty about at least several key details.  The straw man caricature accepted as a true skeptic bears little resemblance to the genuine adherent of rationalistic skepticism.

Skepticism is neutrality when it comes to believing that a particular idea is true or false and nothing more.  It is not the same as embracing the most likely explanation for something that cannot be directly known, nor is it the same as siding with science over some sort of theological ideology.  Authentic, sound skepticism is merely a refusal to believe that one knows what one cannot know.  The irrelevant trappings associated with the popular misconception of skepticism are irrational, but they easily lead to assumptions about the nature of thorough epistemology that almost inevitably lead to further errors.