Ancient philosophical view that absolute
knowledge of things is ultimately
unobtainable, hence the only proper attitude
is to suspend judgement. Its origins lay in
the teachings of the Greek philosopher
Pyrrho, who maintained that peace of mind lay
in renouncing all claims to knowledge. It was
taken up in a less extreme form by the Greek
Academy in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC.
Academic sceptics claimed that although truth
is finally unknowable, a balance of
probabilities can be used for coming to
decisions. The most radical form of
scepticism is known as solipsism, which
maintains that the self is the only thing
that can be known to exist.