Skepticism and Political Conservatism

McKenna, R ORCID: 0000-0001-5129-7850 and Ranalli, C ORCID: 0000-0002-5652-4829 (2025) Skepticism and Political Conservatism International Journal for the Study of Skepticism. pp. 1-19. ISSN 2210-5697, 2210-5700

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Abstract

In his excellent new book Epistemic Courage, Jonathan Ichikawa argues that epistemology evinces a bias towards the skeptical. In its most extreme forms (i.e., radical skepticism), this leads to complete suspension of judgment and inaction. Less extreme forms manifest themselves in a reluctance to believe what the evidence supports, and to act accordingly. Ichikawa thinks that this is a political as well as an epistemological mistake: skepticism tends to support the status quo and is allied with some of the animating ideas of political conservatism. We reconstruct Ichikawa's argument that skepticism is allied with political conservatism and explain why we are not convinced. We also sketch a form of skepticism that is explicitly anti-political, and so cannot be closely identified with any political ideology, conservatism included.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	5003 Philosophy, 50 Philosophy and Religious Studies
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > School of the Arts Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > School of the Arts > Philosophy Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > Faculty of Humanities & Social Sci (All T&R Staff) Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences > School of the Arts > School of the Arts (T&R Staff)
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	12 Nov 2025 08:18
Last Modified:	23 Jan 2026 20:34
DOI:	10.1163/22105700-bja10117
Open Access URL:	https://brill.com/view/journals/skep/aop/article-1...
Related Websites:	Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3195318
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