Literary notes about skepticism (AI summary)
In literature, skepticism appears as a versatile motif—sometimes a quiet, creeping doubt that undermines accepted truths ([1], [2]), at other times a forceful challenge to conventional belief systems. It manifests both in the introspective disposition of characters who withhold their trust, as when personal convictions are questioned ([3], [4]), and in scholarly discourses critiquing empirical methods or religious dogmatism ([5], [6], [7]). Moreover, it often serves as a narrative device that juxtaposes raw human fidelity with critical, even cynical, inquiry, inviting readers to reflect on the balance between belief and doubt ([8], [9]).
- Even as it was, skepticism crept in with its doubts and questionings.
— from Old Times on the Upper Mississippi
The Recollections of a Steamboat Pilot from 1854 to 1863 by George Byron Merrick - One word, also, about the reproach that in following this sort of an empirical method we are handing ourselves over to systematic skepticism.
— from The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature by William James - My wife, however, did not share my skepticism.
— from Sometub's Cruise on the C. & O. CanalThe narrative of a motorboat vacation in the heart of Maryland by John Pryor Cowan - As the narrative proceeded, one restrained his skepticism till he was almost ready to burst, and then vociferated, "Silas, that's a lie!"
— from Homes and Haunts of the Most Eminent British Poets, Vol. 2 (of 2) by William Howitt - Be that as it may, our task is to discover the application of Hume’s skepticism to our own problems in some clear example.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross - Properly to bound our discussion of Humian skepticism, a few words have to be said concerning the empirical method of the sciences.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross - But what interested me most about him was his religious skepticism.
— from McClure's Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 1 by Various - Supersensual truth is deserved and discovered by those who overcome their natural materialistic skepticism.'
— from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda - I think God will forgive us our skepticism sooner than our Inquisitions.
— from A Preface to Politics by Walter Lippmann