This book reconstructs the history of skepticism ranging from ancient to contemporary times, from Pyrrho to Kripke. The main skeptical stances and the historical reconstruction of the concept of skepticism are connected with an analysis of their recurrent inconsistency. The author reveals that this inconsistency is not a logical contradiction but a pragmatic one. She shows that it is a contradiction between the content of the skeptical position and the implicit presumption of the act of its assertion. The thesis of global skepticism cannot be accepted as true without falling into the pragmatic inconsistency. The author explains, how skepticism was important for exposing the limits of human knowledge and inspired its development.

Renata Ziemi?ska is professor of philosophy and chair in epistemology at the University of Szczecin, Poland. She is member of The Committee on Philosophical Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences, member of Society for Skeptical Studies and International Society for the Study of Skepticism.