SKEPTICISM, in philosophy, is a critical attitude or methodology that questions the claim of knowledge made by philosophers and others. Skepticism has been known in various degrees, including the refusal to acknowledge that any knowledge is possible at all, the denial that any knowledge is valid if it is not derived from sense experience, and the denial of claims of knowledge in specific fields such as metaphysics, theology, or the sciences. Skepticism has contributed to the advancement of epistemology, or theories of knowledge, by forcing the critical analysis of all claims to knowledge and the rejection of unwarranted assumptions.

在哲学中，怀疑论是质疑哲学家和其他人提出的知识主张的一种批判态度或方法。人们对怀疑论已有不同程度的了解，包括拒绝承认任何知识是可能的，如果它不是源自感觉经验，便否认任何知识是有效的，并且否认在特定领域中的知识主张，诸如形而上学、神学，或科学。怀疑论通过对所有的知识主张和拒绝接受无根据假设的强制批判分析，促进了认识论，或知识理论的进步。

While skepticism is found in other early philosophers, the Roman Pyrrhonian school developed it to a high degree. The 3d century Greek philosopher Sextus Empiricus provided a famous series of rules for avoiding judgments in his Adversus mathematicos and the Pyrrhoniarum hypotyposes. In the 17^th century Rene Descartes utilized a skeptical attitude in his search for a sound basis for all knowledge. In the 20^th century skeptical attitudes are represented by the criticisms of metaphysics made by such philosophers as Rudolf Carnap and Bertrand Russell.  See also EPISTEMOLOGY.

虽然在其他早期的哲学家中也发现了怀疑论，但罗马的皮罗学派将其发展到了一种高度。3世纪希腊哲学家塞克斯都·恩披里柯在其《驳数学家》和《皮罗学说概要》中为避免判断提供了一系列著名的规则。在17世纪，勒奈·笛卡尔在他为所有知识寻找一种坚实的基础中就利用了怀疑论的态度。在20世纪，鲁道夫·卡纳普和伯特兰·罗素这类哲学家对形而上学的批判就代表了怀疑论的态度。也可参阅认识论词条。

                                         2022年5月15日译

（译者注：该词条位列《大美百科全书》1985年版，第24卷，第888页）