Thursday, January 9, 2014

Skepticism and Sociopathy (on watching Law & Order reruns in the snow)


Last year, the Christian philosopher Dallas Willard died. In a lecture not long before his death, he discussed skepticism. The lecture was actually entitled What is Skepticism Good For? He opened the lecture by answering his own question with admirable brevity. Skepticism, Willard said, does two good and important things: (1) It undermines claims to illegitimate authority, and (2) it stimulates inquiry.