PRE-PHILOSOPHICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL MEANINGS

Many philosophical terms are modifications of terms in ordinary language. There is thus a danger that when beginning students use the terms, they will fall back upon the meaning those terms have in ordinary language. The challenge is to use the pre-philosophical meaning to help you "climb up" to the philosophical meaning, but then you must be careful not to slip back to the "lower" level of ordinary language when you are trying (or asked) to think philosophically.

Dogmatism

Precritical, pre-philosophical meaning.
In ordinary usage, to be "dogmatic" is to affirm something strongly, firmly, or even stubbornly.

Critical or Philosophical Meaning
In philosophical usage, to be dogmatic or a dogmatist about some statement S is to unquestioningly affirm or deny S and to think that it is right to affirm or deny S without questioning, that is, without investigating or reasoning about whether one should affirm or deny S.

Skepticism

Precritical, pre-philosophical meaning.
In ordinary usage, to be skeptical or to be a skeptic about some statement S is simply to have or admit doubts about S; to think that S may be false. In ordinary usage, a person who leans towards disbelief or denial may call herself a skeptic.

Critical or Philosophical Meaning.
In philosophical usage, skepticism about some statement S is "balanced" in relation to belief and denial. ("Balanced" here is not a term of praise or blame.) The skeptic about S neither believes nor denies S. The skeptic suspends judgment and holds that this is the right attitude for all rational people.

(Note: A person who is skeptical about most statements may be dogmatic that skepticism is usually the right approach!)

Epistemological Optimism

Pre-critical, pre-philosophical meaning.
"Epistemology," of course, is not an ordinary word. "Optimism," on the other hand, is. It is, roughly, the belief or attitude that in the future, good things are likely to outweigh the bad by a considerable margin.

Critical or Philosophical Meaning.
Epistemological optimism is only concerned directly with the human possibility for knowledge. An epistemological optimist (EO) about a statement S thinks that we can know or have justified confidence about the truth or falsity of S. Knowledge or justified confidence involves experience, evidence, proof, and/or reasoned argument. It is more than mere insisting, blind faith, or stubborn assertion. An EO about S does not have to believe that she now knows whether S is true; she must, however, think that humans can know whether S is true.