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Literary notes about scepticism (AI summary)

Literary works employ the term scepticism in a remarkable variety of ways, ranging from a rigorous philosophical tool to an expression of emotional or moral doubt. In some texts, scepticism is used to denote a systematic questioning of metaphysical claims and the limits of human understanding, as seen in discussions by Kant and Hume ([1], [2], [3], [4]). At the same time, other writings imbue the term with a more personal or even liberating sense—portraying it as a response to cold detachment, societal dogmatism, or the instinct to suspend belief until sufficient evidence is provided ([5], [6], [7]). Additionally, several authors depict scepticism as a dynamic interplay with knowledge itself, highlighting its role in both dismantling established doctrines and paving the way for new insights ([8], [9], [10]). This multifaceted usage underscores the enduring literary fascination with doubt as both a critical and creative force.
  1. Scepticism originally arose from metaphysics and its licentious dialectics.
    — from Kant's Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics by Immanuel Kant
  2. experience, 28 ; weakness of, 126 (v. Reason , Scepticism ).
    — from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume
  3. Scepticism concerning, 117 (v. Scepticism , B).
    — from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume
  4. In all the incidents of life we ought still to preserve our scepticism.
    — from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume
  5. I was so hurt by her coldness and scepticism, that the tears rose to my eyes.
    — from Jane Eyre: An Autobiography by Charlotte Brontë
  6. The attitude we prefer in them is one of benevolent scepticism.
    — from A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud
  7. If a man have a strong faith he can indulge in the luxury of scepticism; he is strong enough, firm enough, well-knit enough for such a luxury.
    — from The Twilight of the Idols; or, How to Philosophize with the Hammer. The Antichrist by Nietzsche
  8. 8 Goethe was probably the first European man to carry out this scepticism to its full results.
    — from Demonology and Devil-lore by Moncure Daniel Conway
  9. INTRODUCTION Scepticism is as much the result of knowledge, as knowledge is of scepticism.
    — from The Odyssey by Homer
  10. From this it follows that "all freedom of spirit," i.e. instinctive scepticism, is the prerequisite of greatness.
    — from The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book III and IV by Nietzsche

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