Category: Skepticism

Skepticism is a philosophical doctrine the aim of which is to question the things that are regarded as simply acceptable by the others. Skepticism can be scientific, religious, and philosophical. Considering skepticism as a philosophical doctrine is the most interesting because it gives an opportunity to acquire a new perspective on the perception of life. With regards to philosophy, skepticism avoids making truth claims. However, skeptics do not deny truth because stating that truth is impossible would be a truth claim by itself. Among the most well-known skeptics there is Rene Descartes who is believed to have developed global skepticism trying to find absolute certainty to base his philosophy on. His argument that absolute certainty exists bred external world skepticism, or the idea that human senses are deceptive and that, in reality, none of the people can know for sure that they live in a definite place and have a definite appearance. One of the most compelling arguments for skepticism about the external world concerns the existence of material objects; this argument can be considered with regards to qualitative illusion, the reality of these objects, and the questions about their qualities.

First of all, according to the external world skepticism, the objects surrounding people are a result of qualitative illusion. For instance, Butchvarov mentions that qualitative illusion can be regarded as “unreality of a perceived perceptual expanse, and thus the problem of its distinguishability from qualitative vertical perception can be understood as a special case of the problem of the distinguishability of unreal objects of perception from real ones” (57). This, of course, is possible only if the real objects do exist. All the material objects are perceived by people the way they are only because their consciousness makes them believe that these objects really look like this. A bright example of this argument is the movie The Matrix according to which all the people live in virtual reality and the objects that surround them have the qualities that the system allows them to have. Therefore, owing to the qualitative illusion, people perceive the material objects incorrectly and can never be sure that something they hold in their hands is indeed what they think it is.

Secondly, as stated by the external world skeptics, it is not the qualities of the objects that should be questioned, but their reality as such. The greatest question here is whether the object a person holds in his/her hands really exists or whether this person is made to believe that he/she holds this object. A perfect illustration of this is an episode from The Matrix where Neo watches a little boy bending a spoon by only looking at it. In this episode the reality of the objects surrounding people is questioned. The boy convinces Neo that bending the spoon is possible and that it is not necessary to possess paranormal abilities to be able to do this. One has only to believe that the spoon does not exist because it is so indeed. Similarly, the external world skepticism questions the reality of all the material objects surrounding people prior to questioning the qualities of these objects, such as shape, smell, taste, etc. Therefore, it is typical for the external world skeptics to state that the material objects may not be real.

And finally, the qualities of the material object are worth questioning only if one makes sure that the object is real. Taking into account this belief of the external world skepticism, “questions about what qualities a perceived material object really has can arise only if we have answered affirmatively the questions whether the object is real” (Butchvarov 57). This further creates an idea that an unreal (or hallucinatory) object is perceived by people in a definite way because the system makes the person believe that this object has these qualities. With regards to this, one of the most frequent questions asked by the external world skeptics is which qualities the material objects have indeed. However, asking this question does not make any sense, as long as a person is not sure that the object (even though with hallucinatory qualities) exists at all or its existence is dictated by the system as well. Thus, before asking the questions about the qualities of the material objects, the real existence of these objects has to be questioned.

In conclusion, skepticism makes people consider the issues they have never paid attention to before. For instance, external world skepticism makes it possible to question the existence of the objects people are surrounded by. External world skepticism states that these objects are perceived by people in a definite way due to qualitative illusion. However, even though the qualities of the objects around us should be questioned, it does not make sense doing so until the reality (and the existence) of these objects is proven. In this way, people should not believe everything around them because their senses are deceptive; thus, people do not know anything about the external world.

Work Cited

Butcharov, Panayot. Skepticism about the External World. Oxford: Oxford University Press US, 1998.

Introduction

Undoubtedly, the awe-inspiring philosophies of Plato and Aristotle form the foundation of the contemporary philosophies. In most cases, their philosophies laid more emphasis in modern science, epistemology and metaphysics. However, after their death, the emerging philosophers such as Sextus Empiricus, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius developed new philosophies on the issue that had troubled ancient Greeks the most-ethics. The ancient Greeks wanted to discover what it takes to be virtuous, what one has to do in order to be full of character and nobility, and what it takes to live the good life. Consequently, among the philosophies that emerged include stoicism and skepticism. The paper will compare these schools of two schools of thought with an aim of establishing their differences.

Stoicism

According to Epictetus, stoicism is a school of thought that explains how free a person is when educated. The person behind the development of this school of thought is Zeno of Citium. In those days, cynics dominated many schools in Greece and students had to learn its precepts along with other philosophies. However, Zeno became predisposed by the Socrates and adopted the philosophies of the Socrates. Among the many aspects of Socrates and hence stoicism was to be virtuous, and most importantly, surrendering to the will of God. In fact, the ancient Greeks believed in one God and Zeno failed to differentiate between God and nature. To him, the two resembled and were one. In fact, this philosophy goes further to state that human beings can only acquire happiness by either observing the cogent law of humanity or by living according to nature.

Stoicism values apatheia, that is, the dearth of passion as it is the one that makes human beings virtuous. Marcus Aurelius in his book, Meditations, tells that uncontrolled passion sires a hysterical emotion or physical longing, which is dangerous to human beings. Thus, by doing away with this attitude, human beings develop wisdom and ability paramount to their daily practices. Thus, whenever people control their inner self, they can master their lives without being slaves to the emotions of other people. In this way, the external circumstances influence personal unresponsiveness (Boeree 1).

Additionally, in Stoicism, the basic fundamental belief is that everybody is equal and that the state is universal where all men are brothers. This aspect or principle of stoicism calls for duty to others. Nevertheless, this is not possible minus substantive amount of empathy, impartiality forbearance and active help. In stoicism, human beings are intrinsic social creatures who exhibit ethics at all times, which is natural in reason itself. Clearly, stoicism illustrates that human beings can revolutionize their attitudes and behavior in order to be virtuous.

Skepticism

Skepticism, the school of thought developed by Sextus Empiricus, starts by first defining who a skeptic is. According to Sextus Empiricus, a skeptic is a person who explores or investigates situations or events, shelving the sentence during the investigation period. He uses an example of the real object and its image in the mirror by saying that they counter hence, no one should judge because, the criterion of truth never exists (Hooker 1).

In other words, skepticism is an approach that scrutinizes claims of conviction. The art of believing misses out and doubt takes center stage even in matters of truth and knowledge. The peripheral construct of a person on a particular statement or even only changes through cacophonous substantiation or knowledge rather than the core constructs. In fact, in order to alter the peripheral construct, a rational argumentation is obligatory. On the other hand, a brawny emotive component is necessary in the alteration of core constructs. Otherwise, it is hard to change a skeptic’s core construct, as they appear more resistant as compared to believers (Sextus, Annas and Barnes 35-65).

Works Cited

Boeree, George. The Ancient Greeks, Part Three: Epicureans and Stoics. 2000. Web.

Hooker, Richard. Skepticism. 1996. Web.

Sextus, Empiricus, Annas, Julia, Barnes, Jonathan. Outlines of Skepticism. Cambridge University Press. 2000. Print.

Cartesian skepticism is a type of skepticism based on general observations of the surrounding world. This concept includes reality, past experiences, and predictions about future events. Cartesian skepticism shows how people intuitively create their lives without scientific approval using personal experience or unique behavior. This type of skepticism is close to modern philosophy, which attempts to understand how people think about themselves and the world. Judgments about cartesian skepticism can appear in certain ways beginning from diverse definitions due to different people’s experiences and finishing with the uselessness of the concept because of a lack of knowledge in this sphere.

Based on the experience individuals receive, they create their unique perceptions and stay the same for a long time. For instance, external factors like society or the place of living influence dreaming and thinking. However, changes in beliefs happen when people start changing their minds and how they think. Arguments may appear due to a lack of knowledge related to this type of skepticism, and people might start thinking that the concept does not bring changes to their lives and thinking. In defense, cartesian skepticism allows individuals to adjust their experience to many spheres of life and stay sure that their background helps them understand the meaning of life. Nevertheless, people can avoid using the concept if they do not see changes in their lives. This type of skepticism does not force people to be ethical to their surroundings or follow generally accepted rules not written in the constitution or other law documents.

Every person has a right to avoid the concept, as some might not see any significant emotional or phycological changes. Cartesian skepticism does not have approved theories with supporting sources, and there is no need to have a reason to believe in the influence of the philosophical theory. Conscientious rejection of the idea does not lead people to conflicts that often appear in philosophy. Individuals rarely have weighty arguments that confirm or refute the concept of cartesian skepticism.

Over the last decade, the notions of “green” or so-called “ecologically-friendly” products have become an integral part of practically any marketing campaign. With a rapid increase in companies paying attention to the environment, consumers have eventually begun questioning the purity of their intentions (Torelli, Balluchi, & Lazzini, 2020). After a series of meticulous research, it was estimated that many enterprises indeed manipulated the concept to gain a competitive advantage, creating a foundation for customers’ skepticism. Thus, nowadays, the vast majority of customers feel rather uncertain about purchasing eco-friendly products, as many enterprises have now acquired a tendency to lie about the ecological manufacturing of the product to increase the sales rates (Pimonenko et al., 2020). To address the issue, it is necessary to dwell upon the reasons behind the tendency of greenwashing, which include the loose federal restrictions on ecologically friendly product definition, companies’ misconceptions of the real financial scopes of environmentalism in manufacturing, and consumers’ intentions behind buying “green” products.

Primarily, it is important to dwell upon the legal regulations existing in today’s market to define the extent to which companies can manipulate the idea of ecologically friendly manufacturing. Hence, according to the researchers, the Federal Trade Commission in the US does not obtain a rigid framework for ecological production, providing the companies to manipulate their customers by using such words as “organic” or “eco-friendly,” as these notions bear no significance in terms of legal justification of the manufacturing (Schmuck, Matthess, & Naderer, 2018). For example, one of the latest case studies concerning H&M, a clothing brand that launched its ecologically friendly collection claiming some clothes to be made from “organic cotton” (Petter, 2020). However, the campaign that could have been legally considered as ecological still required many other manufacturing tools like water, which contradicts the initial idea of the collection.

Another notion, which is closely associated with the aforementioned process of greenwashing is the concept of purchase intention. Scholars define it as the willingness to buy a specific product based on their general impression of it and the external factors that contribute to the following decision (Ko & Jin, 2017). The most common effect is displayed through the increase in skeptical behavior, which stands for one’s tendency to doubt any information received (Goh & Balaji, 2016). When it comes to the idea of purchase intention in the context of green product marketing, greenwashing appears to be a decisive factor in terms of the final buying process. Some researchers claim to greenwash to be an insignificant factor compared to customers’ environmental knowledge and concerns about the ecological system (Fabiola & Mayangsari, 2020). Others, on the other hand, believe this issue to be a direct cause of poor ecological knowledge and, eventually, skepticism when it comes to obtaining an eco-friendly item (Orazi & Chan, 2020). Moreover, some customers are willing to buy “eco-friendly” products for purely selfish reasons, paying barely any attention to the actual characteristics of purchased goods.

Finally, the notion of consumers’ skepticism towards buying “green” products is also correlated with the overall misconception of the cost of ecological manufacturing for both the purchasers and producers. Today’s market tendencies claim that some companies, due to being reassured of unreasonably costly ecological manufacturing, invest more in the “greenwashing” marketing campaigns than in the production of sustainable goods (Griese, Werner, & Hogg, 2017). As a result, such companies invest in the level of consumers’ uncertainty in terms of “green” product purchase instead of developing their compatibility with real and more profitable ecological brands.

Consumers’ skepticism about green products is based on various factors, making it difficult to define a working strategy towards situation improvement. As required by the context, the following issue was analyzed in terms of skepticism related to the notions of greenwashing, purchase intention and legal perception of ecologically friendly manufacturing. As a result, it was estimated that each of the factors is closely correlated with the other ones, creating an explicit issue in the customer-manufacturer paradigm.

References

Fabiola, K., & Mayangsari, L. (2020). The influence of green skepticism, environmental knowledge and environmental concern on generation z’s green purchase intentions in Indonesia. Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH), 5(8), 96-105.

Goh, S. K., & Balaji, M. S. (2016). Linking green skepticism to green purchase behavior. Journal of Cleaner Production, 131, 629-638.

Griese, K. M., Werner, K., & Hogg, J. (2017). Avoiding greenwashing in event marketing: An exploration of concepts, literature, and methods. J. Mgmt. & Sustainability, 7, 1.

Ko, S. B., & Jin, B. (2017). Predictors of purchase intention toward green apparel products. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 64.

Orazi, D. C., & Chan, E. Y. (2020). “They did not walk the green talk!:” How information specificity influences consumer evaluations of disconfirmed environmental claims. Journal of Business Ethics, 163(1), 107-123.

Petter, O. (2020). H&M accused of “greenwashing” over plans to make clothes from sustainable fabric. Web.

Pimonenko, T., Bilan, Y., Horák, J., Starchenko, L., & Gajda, W. (2020). Green Brand of Companies and Greenwashing under Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainability, 12(4), 1679.

Schmuck, D., Matthes, J., & Naderer, B. (2018). Misleading consumers with green advertising? An affect–reason–involvement account of greenwashing effects in environmental advertising. Journal of Advertising, 47(2), 127-145.

Torelli, R., Balluchi, F., & Lazzini, A. (2020). Greenwashing and environmental communication: Effects on stakeholders’ perceptions. Business Strategy and the Environment, 29(2), 407-421.