''Scepticism and Animal Faith'' (1923) is a later work by Spanish-born American philosopher

George Santayana Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, known in English as George Santayana (; December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952), was a Spanish and US-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. Born in Spain, Santayana was raised ...

. He intended it to be "merely the introduction to a new system of philosophy," a work that would later be called ''

The Realms of Being ''The Realms of Being'' (1942) is the last major work by Spanish-American philosopher George Santayana. Along with ''Scepticism and Animal Faith'' and ''The Life of Reason'', it is his most notable work; the first two works concentrate primarily ...

'', which constitutes the bulk of his philosophy, along with ''

The Life of Reason ''The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress'' is a book published in five volumes from 1905 to 1906, by Spanish-born American philosopher George Santayana. It consists of ''Reason in Common Sense'', ''Reason in Society'', ''Reason in Religi ...

''. ''Scepticism'' is Santayana's major treatise on

epistemology Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics. Episte ...

; after its publication, he wrote no more on the topic. His preface begins humbly, with Santayana saying: Moreover, he does not claim philosophical supremacy: While Santayana acknowledges the importance of

skepticism Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...

to philosophy, and begins by doubting almost everything; from here, he seeks to find some kind of epistemological truths.

Idealism In philosophy, the term idealism identifies and describes metaphysical perspectives which assert that reality is indistinguishable and inseparable from perception and understanding; that reality is a mental construct closely connected to ide ...

is correct, claims Santayana, but is of no consequence. He makes this

pragmatic Pragmatism is a philosophical movement. Pragmatism or pragmatic may also refer to: *Pragmaticism, Charles Sanders Peirce's post-1905 branch of philosophy *Pragmatics, a subfield of linguistics and semiotics *''Pragmatics'', an academic journal in ...

claim by asserting that men do not live by the principles of idealism, even if it is true. We have functioned for eons without adhering to such principles, and may continue, pragmatically, as such. He posits the necessity of the eponymous "Animal Faith", which is belief in that which our senses tell us; "Philosophy begins ''in medias res''", he assures us at the beginning of his treatise. Durant, Will. ''The Story of Philosophy''. Simon & Schuster: 1967.

References

External links

* The full text of
Scepticism and Animal Faith
' at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

1923 non-fiction books American non-fiction books Books by George Santayana Contemporary philosophical literature English-language books Epistemology literature Skepticism {{philosophy-book-stub