Doubt Is the Key to Knowledge

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“Doubt is the key to knowledge” (Persian Proverb). To what extent is this true in two areas of knowledge? I believe doubt is the awareness of uncertainty. Uncertainty makes humanity realize that we do not view knowledge from outside, but we struggle to make sense of knowledge from within. In other words, all knowledge is historically conditioned. 2000 years ago, the Persians believed their knowledge is somewhat contained, that doubt is the only key that will unlock knowledge, opening new horizons. Since knowledge is conditioned by history, the proverb and its meaning are also conditioned. In this essay, I will analyse the extent of the truthfulness of the proverb from a modern perspective. In the 17th century, René Descartes believed Mathematical axioms to be the only truths that remain unchanged with respect to ontological presuppositions. In contrast, Economics seems to be unstable as there have been sporadic upheavals and revisions of economic models. The fact that both areas of knowledge have undergone paradigm shifts suggests there are doubts in both areas. Doubt can be either productive or destructive. An excess of doubt can become cynicism, paranoia and nihilism. Is doubt really the key to knowledge? Do we automatically obtain knowledge whenever we challenge assumptions and remain doubtful of our own knowledge? The first knowledge issue is the role of doubt in the authority of Economics in terms of its usefulness and values. Ambiguous though it may sound, doubt can either create or destroy the authority of Economics. For example, the Classical theory1 advocated by Adam Smith was accepted as the absolute economic truth that would hold true throughout the ages. In 1930s, John Maynard Keynes doubted the scope and applicability of Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand2 because the Classical theory failed to explain recurring mass unemployment during the Great
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