A Critque on Sophistic Skepticism A Critque on Sophistic Skepticism S: One of the arguments that Sophists use to deny knowledge of any ultimate reality behind the sensations of human beings is that: We never ascertain that which is in the external world - at most, we conceptualize what is in it; thus it is not possible to truthfully avouch for the external existence of a thing. A: The disposition of knowledge is the disclosure and illumination of the realities around us. If we accept that we only conceptualize that which is in the enternal world, this only means that we have discovered external realities (no one claims more th an this in the sutdy of epistemology). Insofar as man imagines a carnivorous predator (e.g. a lion) he does not become afraid or attempt to flee, however the moment he discovers that, in the external world, a lion is comming his direction, he becomes fri ghten and flees. The distinguishing factor between the two occurrences is that in the latter an external existence was the cause of illumination (knowledge), which is sufficent enough for the confirmation of (human knowledge of) an existent in the extern al world by the name of `liom'. book :Tafsir Al-Mizan Vol. 1 (A Commentary on Qur'an) Author :Tba'tabai, Muhammad Husayn Footnote : Footnotes: ------------------------------------------------------------