Spinal Fire Scientia Est Potentia

When Skepticism Crosses the Line and Becomes Special Pleading

In science, skepticism is an ideal for which many people strive. This, in and of itself, is often a very powerful tool in the pursuit of knowledge. However, more often then not, skepticism transmogrifies into a logical fallacy called special pleading. This presents a large barrier to the pursuit of knowledge in our society. The ideal of scientific skepticism is becoming an excuse to ignore evidence that does not conform to the view of reality accepted by the so-called skeptic.

Thus, I think that it is important to understand what skepticism really means…

skep·ti·cism also scep·ti·cism (skěp'tĭ-sĭz'əm)

1. A doubting or questioning attitude or state of mind; dubiety. See Synonyms at uncertainty.

2. Philosophy

a. The ancient school of Pyrrho of Elis that stressed the uncertainty of our beliefs in order to oppose dogmatism.

b. The doctrine that absolute knowledge is impossible, either in a particular domain or in general.

c. A methodology based on an assumption of doubt with the aim of acquiring approximate or relative certainty.

3. Doubt or disbelief of religious tenets.

Overall, the picture painted above is one that stresses questioning. The ancient school of thought cited above was famous for producing students that were good at coming up with questions regarding the various phenomena that surrounded them at the time. This questioning attitude did much and still does much to advance the pursuit of knowledge.
The crux of this problem lies not in questioning itself, but in how much questioning is reasonable before a piece of information should be reasonably accepted. This is important because when we draw conclusions in science, we do so based on the amount of evidence we have the supports this or that conclusion. If an individual can question one piece of information more vigorously then another in order to prevent from using it to draw certain conclusions, then they are engaging in the fallacy of special pleading.

Special Pleading

noun
1. An argument that ignores unfavorable evidence.

2. (law) a pleading that alleges new facts in avoidance of the opposing allegations

Special pleading is a great impediment to the pursuit of knowledge. People often use special pleading to protect established ideas in which they have invested much intellectually and often economically. When one uses scientific skepticism as an excuse to special plead, the institutional weight of the scientific establishment is assumed to back the fallacy.

We can see several examples of this in our society…

1. Evolution vs. Creationism
2. Global Warming
3. JFK
4. WTC

What do you think?