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Philosophy Then

Don’t Be So Sure

Peter Adamson on skepticism in the history of philosophy.

You may think you know what philosophical skepticism is. It’s commonly traced back to René Descartes, who in his Meditations (1642) asks whether there is anything of which he can be completely certain. Famously, he decides there is: he cannot doubt his own existence. But first he entertains radical skeptical scenarios, notably that he’s dreaming, or that an ‘evil demon’ may be inducing in him false beliefs that seem certain. Pop culture embraces this form of skepticism most famously in the Wachowskis’ film The Matrix (1999), which suggests that you may be a brain in a vat, or rather, Keanu Reeves in a vat.

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