Sceptical Literature

History of Sceptical Literature

The term scepticism has roots in the Greek word skeptikos meaning 'inquirer'. There are three ways to look at scepticism: as a methodology, as a school of thought, and as an attitude.

As a philosophy, scepticism has been prevalent in Western thought since ancient times. Ancient sceptics challenged the popular views of Plato (c. 428–347 BCE) and Aristotle (c. 384–322 BCE). Similar trends followed throughout European history, with challenges and criticisms mounted against mainstream thinkers, philosophers, and even scientists over the course of history. Denis Diderot (1713–1784), the French philosopher who compiled the first known version of the encyclopaedia, once wrote that scepticism is the first step towards truth¹. The more we question, the more we learn.

Fig. 1 Scepticism challenges the foundation of knowledge and beliefs

The contemporary definition of scepticism, as distrust or disbelief, came to be during the Enlightenment, a period of vigorous intellectual activity in Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Sceptical Literature: meaning

Scepticism can be applied to any subject or discipline. Sceptical methods also vary according to the belief systems they target. While we could question our beliefs about external reality, we could also question our mental perceptions.

As you may know, literature is highly susceptible to the general philosophical mood at the time of its creation. Therefore, these questions have a way of showing up in literature. Such works can be called sceptical literature.

While the principles of scepticism are more or less applicable to all human experiences, some writers are more expressly sceptical than others. As a result, some texts turn out to be manifestly sceptical. For the same reason, we can call sceptical literature a tradition on its own. The great writers in this tradition include Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592), Jonathan Swift (1667–1745), Francis Bacon (1561–1626), Alexander Pope (1688–1744), and Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986).

Sceptical Literature: characteristics

While sceptical literature books don't belong to a well-defined genre, they share an interest in challenging existing beliefs and 'truths'. Following the philosophical line of inquiry, sceptical literature often addresses the relationship between the self and experience. This is particularly evident in the works of Montaigne who famously inaugurated the form of writing we now know as 'essay' (more on Montaigne below!)

The general stance in scepticism and also sceptical literature highlights the inadequacy of human intellect and our faculty of perception.

Sceptical Literature: examples

As already mentioned, sceptical literature is not a clear-cut genre but there are exemplary works that reflect the sceptical attitude. Let's have a look at a few of those!

Essays of Montaigne

The form 'essay' originated as a formal articulation of individual experience and opinion. The form itself is linked to scepticism since opinions are limited to individual experience. For Montaigne, all experience of reality is plural and indistinct.

The scepticism of Montaigne involves the relationship between the self and the articulation of experience. Montaigne repudiates the general knowledge claims and the notion of divine attribution of knowledge. Montaigne's essays, especially 'An Apology for Raymond Sebond' (1576) challenged the presupposed basis of knowledge to reveal what he asserts as its foundation: the human desire to know. Montaigne's scepticism lies in the idea that the self is captive in the matrix of perception.

Laurence Sterne

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (1759) also known as Tristram Shandy was written by the Anglo-Irish writer Laurence Sterne (1713–1768). A novel Inspired by Don Quixote (1605) by Miguel de Cervantes (1547–1616), Tristram Shandy encourages readers to embrace the spontaneity of first impressions upon reading. Another characteristic that sets the novel apart is its adoption of scepticism as comedy.

Tristram Shandy is lauded for its self-referential quality and humour. The book captures the relationship between scepticism and inconsistency and moulds that into a comedic weapon. The plot twists and digressions in the novel are as eccentric as the life story of the protagonist. Tristram's antagonistic relationship with his father, who is an intellectual and philosopher, symbolises the contentious relationship between scepticism (and sceptical comedy) and philosophy.

Alexander Pope

Alexander Pope wrote some of the most enduring works from the Age of Enlightenment. Pope's An Essay on Man (1733) is read as a philosophical poem. However, Pope’s sceptical attitude invades the poem. Pope recognises intelligence as characterised by a diversity and variation that impacts both the mind that perceives as well as the object that is perceived.

Pope interprets understanding as a flux—a movement of the mind through time—ultimately dependent on thought, feeling, and imagination. The underlying scepticism in the poem is often described as a metaphorical use of philosophical ideas to emphasise the variousness of experience and understanding.

Pope begins the Horatian preface to the poem with a declaration that the speaker has become their own master. The passage also reflects the inconsistency of thought or the mobility of the mind as previously described, which cannot be mastered or fulfilled.

Alfred Lord Tennyson

Tennyson's dilemma as a poet and thinker was that he followed three distinct patterns of thought, namely, Christianity, Enlightenment, and Romanticism. Tennyson's works were consequently born out of the efforts to reconcile these warring ideals. The Christian motifs and elements of Romanticism in Tennyson's poetry are widely discussed. However, scepticism, especially the perspectives of rationality and scientific reasoning that Tennyson inherited from Enlightenment thought does not always receive much attention. In fact, it is often contended that the trace of scepticism present in his poetry amounts only to opposition and critique.

On the contrary, in several poems by Tennyson, a sceptical critique is craftily masked by his sensuous poetics. 'In Memoriam A.H.H.' (1850) is a good example of a Tennyson poem that portrays the conflict between scepticism and all-out cynicism.

There are even more recent writers whose works reflect a scepticism towards various aspects of life in the age of information.