Skeptical movement

The skeptical movement (also spelled sceptical) is a modern social movement promoting the idea of scientific skepticism (also called rational skepticism). Scientific skepticism is the application of skeptical philosophy, critical thinking skills, and knowledge of science and its methods to empirical claims, while remaining agnostic or neutral to non-empirical claims (except those that directly impact the practice of science). The movement has the goal of investigating claims made on fringe topics and determining if they are supported by empirical research and are reproducible, as part of a methodological norm pursuing "the extension of certified knowledge". The process followed is sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry.

Roots of the movement can be found in the 19th century when questions began to be publicly raised regarding the unquestioned acceptance of claims of spiritism, various widely held superstitions, and pseudoscience. Medical quackery was also targeted by publications such as the Dutch Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij (1881).

The Belgian Comité Para (1949) has been deemed the oldest "broad mandate" skeptical organization. Using that organization as a template, in 1976, Paul Kurtz and Marcello Truzzi founded the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry in Amherst, New York. The North American skeptical organization, which provides journals and publications, inspired similar associations worldwide.

Scientific skepticism is different from philosophical skepticism, which questions our ability to claim any knowledge about the nature of the world and how we perceive it. Methodological skepticism, a systematic process of being skeptical about (or doubting) the truth of one's beliefs, is similar but distinct. The New Skepticism described by Paul Kurtz is scientific skepticism. For example, Robert K. Merton asserts that all ideas must be tested and are subject to rigorous, structured community scrutiny (as described in Mertonian norms).

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