Final answer:
Skepticism is the belief that some or all human knowledge is impossible. Skeptics argue that it is better to suspend belief than to rely on uncertain reasoning. Different philosophical responses and perspectives exist to address the skeptic's arguments.
Step-by-step explanation:
Skepticism is the belief that some or all human knowledge is impossible. Skeptics argue that since our methods for learning about the world sometimes fall short of perfect certainty, it is better to suspend belief than to rely on uncertain reasoning. Skepticism can be global, questioning the possibility of all knowledge, or local, questioning the possibility of knowledge in specific domains. Different philosophical responses and perspectives exist to address the skeptic's arguments. The problem of skepticism has been engaged by various philosophers throughout history, from the ancient Greeks like Pyrrho and Sextus Empiricus to modern thinkers like Montaigne, Hume, and Mayle. Classical responses to philosophical skepticism focus on finding reasonable grounds to reject the skeptic's argument, as the requirement for complete certainty may be too strict for practical knowledge acquisition.