This is also posted in GA.
Epistemological skepticism states that one cannot know that he is not a brain-in-a-vat, or controlled by creatures from another planet. Therefore, the skeptic claims that one cannot have knowledge.
While it is logically possible for one to be a brain-in-a-vat, that is, not logically contradictory, it is not practically possible. Lots of things are logically possible. For example, it is logically possible that Jupiter is made of wax. However there is no reason to believe this, so we should dismiss it as a theory.
The same should be done with skepticism. There is no reason to believe that one is a brain-in-a-vat, so no one should believe that he is. To believe this would be to base a theory on a lack of evidence. To base something on no evidence is irrational. Hence, skepticism is irrational. It is also a false problem. It is not a problem discovered via evidence, but rather a made up problem.
This argument comes largely from Brendan Sweetman's article, "The Pseudo-Problem of Skepticism," in The Failure of Modernity.
Epistemological skepticism states that one cannot know that he is not a brain-in-a-vat, or controlled by creatures from another planet. Therefore, the skeptic claims that one cannot have knowledge.
While it is logically possible for one to be a brain-in-a-vat, that is, not logically contradictory, it is not practically possible. Lots of things are logically possible. For example, it is logically possible that Jupiter is made of wax. However there is no reason to believe this, so we should dismiss it as a theory.
The same should be done with skepticism. There is no reason to believe that one is a brain-in-a-vat, so no one should believe that he is. To believe this would be to base a theory on a lack of evidence. To base something on no evidence is irrational. Hence, skepticism is irrational. It is also a false problem. It is not a problem discovered via evidence, but rather a made up problem.
This argument comes largely from Brendan Sweetman's article, "The Pseudo-Problem of Skepticism," in The Failure of Modernity.