#skeptical

...I believe there is a legitimate aim of transcendence that is more modest and perhaps more realistic. We may not be able to rule out the skeptical possibility, and we may not be able to ground our normal capacity for understanding on something in which we can have even greater confidence; but it may still be possible to show how we can reasonably retain our natural confidence in the exercise of understanding, in spite of the apparent contingencies of our nature and formation. The hope is not to discover a foundation that makes our knowledge unassailably secure but to find a way of understanding ourselves that is not radically self-undermining, and that does not require us to deny the obvious. The aim would be to offer a plausible picture of how we fit into the world. Even in this more modest enterprise both theism and naturalistic reductionism fall short. Theism does not offer a sufficiently substantial explanation of our capacities, and naturalism does not offer a sufficiently reassuring one. ↗

— Thomas Nagel

#radically-self-undermining #skeptical #nature

The opinions that are held with passion are always those for which no good ground exists; indeed the passion is the measure of the holders lack of rational conviction. Opinions in politics and religion are almost always held passionately. ↗

— Bertrand Russell

#extremism #opinion #opinions #passion #rationalism

Suicide, moreover, was at the time in vogue in Paris: what more suitable key to the mystery of life for a skeptical society? ↗

— Honore de Balzac

#life #more #moreover #mystery #paris

There are those who believe we have need of more literature, of a large international publishing house, of a great peace newspaper, or the like. I am rather skeptical about this idea. ↗

— Fredrik Bajer

#am #believe #great #house #i

Imagine if it happened to you: All of a sudden you find this thing on your wrist and people are telling you it has powers. I would be a little skeptical myself. ↗

— Yancy Butler

#happened #i #imagine #little #myself

Journalists are supposed to be skeptical, that's what keeps them digging rather than simply accepting the official line, whether it comes from government or corporate bureaucrats. ↗

— Linda Chavez

#bureaucrats #comes #corporate #digging #government

A majority of American citizens are now becoming skeptical of the claim that our carbon footprints, resulting from our use of fossil fuels, are going to lead to climatic calamities. But governments are not yet listening to the citizens. ↗

— John Coleman

#american citizens #becoming #calamities #carbon #citizens

I think whenever you see what may be the seeds of a third party, you need to be very skeptical because there's not a very good track record for third parties. ↗

— Candy Crowley

#good #i #i think #may #need

I agree with Chomsky in almost nothing. When it comes to innate structures and so on, I'm very skeptical. ↗

— Clifford Geertz

#almost #comes #i #innate #nothing

I think you can be cynical about religion on occasion, and certainly skeptical about the degree to which some people use religion to manipulate other people. ↗

— Peter Jennings

#certainly #cynical #degree #i #i think