Question

Skepticism, while logically impeccable, is psychologically impossible, and there is an element of frivolous insincerity in any philosophy which pretends to accept it. Moreover, if skepticism is to be theoretically defensible, it must reject all inferences from what is experienced; a partial skepticism... has no logical justification, since it must admit principles of inference which lead to beliefs that it rejects. Russell, Human Knowledge.

Why is skepticism psychologically impossible? I am presuming he means that one cannot go about the world being a skeptic. But this presumes that actions require knowledge (if defined in a complete sense) which is at the very least a controversial position.

One can acknowledge that justification for a belief cannot be possible without having faith in certain axioms (such as the world being real) and yet still do things based on that faith. Where is the "impossibility" here? I’d argue we do this all the time.

Answer 1

Skepticism is psychologically impossible because it requires us to doubt everything, which is not practical in daily life. However, we can acknowledge the limitations of justification and still act based on faith or assumptions.

Step-by-step explanation:

Skepticism is the belief that some or all human knowledge is impossible. It is psychologically impossible because it requires us to completely suspend belief and doubt everything, which is not practical or realistic in our daily lives.

While we may acknowledge that justification for a belief is not always possible, we still rely on certain axioms or basic assumptions in order to function and make decisions.

This means that we often act based on faith or assumptions, even if we recognize that we cannot be absolutely certain.