Epistemology and Metaphysics Schools Paper Essay

The nature of skepticism in real-life today, on a daily basis goes mostly unnoticed. People react to environments of skepticism differently and could become biased upon the subject discussed. According to Encyclopedia Britannica (2011), â€Å"skepticism is defined as 1: an attitude of doubt or a disposition to incredulity either in general or toward a particular object 2 a: the doctrine that true knowledge or knowledge in a particular area is uncertain b: the method of suspended judgment, systematic doubt, or criticism characteristic of skeptics† (Dictionary, para. 1). People are inclined to accept ideas in society today without questioning what is actually being presented. It is very important to question or think critically when confronted with authority because the issue at hand may not always be right. Imagine if Philosophers, such as Copernicus did not hypothesize that the earth is not the center of the universe. We would still be living with various points of views on the subject. People should not accept ideas of others without questioning the ideas first. Unfortunately, we do this everyday unconsciously. At work our supervisors make requests to perform certain tasks, which most of the time we do not question the outcome. We take for granted that our supervisor knows what he or she is doing because of the authoritative figure that he or she plays. Skepticism could have quite an impact on the way employees perform his or her job. In the work environment employees usually take for granted that the boss knows best, and depending on the situation might not question the reason for his or her position on the process. For instance, when a supervisor implements a new job and informs his or her employees on the due date without asking for input, it is with reasonable doubt that one would be skeptical. The employees could have questioned the boss’s process such as whether he or she maintained good judgment on the direction that he or she takes on-the-job. Questions could also be raised in regard to the types of consequences employees will have if the job is not performed well. Employees could be skeptical of the job and ask if it is in the best interest of the company, especially if the supervisor did not have input from the employees prior to the start of the job. Employees typically become skeptical and doubt the authority figures of most bosses. Skepticism also plays a role in our schooling. We usually take the teachers role and the information presented to us to be correct even though the information could be incorrect. Our society has come to trust what others have told us to believe in and our minds have been trained to believe the information to be correct. Everyone should be valued for his or her own opinion and healthy skepticism in real-life environments. References Encyclopedia Britannica. (2011). Encyclopedia-Britannica Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/bps/dictionary?query=skepticism&header_go=