The Philosophy Book

146

DOUBT IS NOT A

PLEASANT CONDITION,

BUT CERTAINTY

IS ABSURD

VOLTAIRE (1694–1778)

IN CONTEXT

BRANCH

Epistemology

APPROACH

Scepticism

BEFORE

350 BCE Aristotle makes

the first reference to a child’s

mind as a “blank slate”,

which later became known

as a tabula rasa.

1690 S John Locke argues that

sense experience allows both

children and adults to acquire

reliable knowledge about the

external world.

AFTER

1859 John Stuart Mill argues

against assuming our own

infallibility in On Liberty.

1900 S Hans-Georg Gadamer

and the postmodernists apply

sceptical reasoning to all

forms of knowledge, even that

gained through empirical

(sense-based) information.

V

oltaire was a French

intellectual who lived in

the Age of Enlightenment.

This period was characterized by

an intense questioning of the world

and how people live in it. European

philosophers and writers turned

their attention to the acknowledged

authorities—such as the Church

and state—to question their validity

and their ideas, while also searching

for new perspectives. Until the 17th

century, Europeans had largely

accepted the Church’s explanations

of what, why, and how things

existed, but both scientists and

philosophers had begun to

demonstrate different approaches

to establishing the truth. In 1690

the philosopher John Locke had

argued that no ideas were innate

(known at birth), and that all ideas

arise from experience alone. His

argument was given further weight

by scientist Isaac Newton whose

experiments provided new ways of

discovering truths about the world.

It was against this background of

Every fact and theory

in history has been

revised at some point.

Every idea and theory

can be challenged.

We are not born with

ideas and concepts

already in our heads.

Doubt is not a

pleasant condition, but

certainty is absurd.