skepticism is also evident in the philosophical journey of Karl Popper. Furthermore, Popper demonstrates the value of fallibilism in his book The Open Society and Its Enemies (1945) by echoing the third maxim inscribed in the forecourt of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi: "surety brings ruin". Fallibilism differs slightly from academic skepticism (also called global skepticism, absolute skepticism, universal skepticism, radical skepticism, or epistemological nihilism) in the sense that fallibilists assume that no beliefs are certain (not even when established a priori), while proponents of academic skepticism advocate that no beliefs exist. In order to defend their position, these skeptics will either engage in epochē, a suspension of judgement, or they will resort to acatalepsy, a rejection of all knowledge. The concept of epoché is often accredited to Pyrrhonian skepticism, while the concept of acatalepsy can be traced back to multiple branches of skepticism. Acatalepsy is also closely related to the Socratic paradox. Nonetheless, epoché and acatalepsy are respectively self-contradictory and self-refuting, namely because both concepts rely (be it logically or methodologically) on its existence to serve as a justification. Lastly, local skepticism is the view that people cannot obtain knowledge of a particular area or subject (e.g. morality, religion, or metaphysics). Criticism Nearly all philosophers today are fallibilists in some sense of the term. Few would claim that knowledge requires absolute certainty, or deny that scientific claims are revisable, though in the 21st century some philosophers have argued for some version of infallibilist knowledge. Historically, many Western philosophers from Plato to Saint Augustine to René Descartes have argued that some human beliefs are infallibly known. Plausible candidates for infallible beliefs include logical truths ("Either Jones is a Democrat or Jones is not a Democrat"), immediate appearances ("It seems that I see a patch of blue"), and incorrigible beliefs (i.e., beliefs that are true in virtue of being believed, such as Descartes' "I think, therefore I am"). Many others, however, have taken even these types of beliefs to be fallible. See also Defeasible reasoning Logical holism Pancritical rationalism Perspectivism Probabilism References Further reading Charles S. Peirce: Selected Writings, by Philip P. Wiener (Dover, 1980) Charles S. Peirce and the Philosophy of Science, by Edward C. Moore (Alabama, 1993) Treatise on Critical Reason, by Hans Albert (Tübingen, 1968; English translation, Princeton, 1985) External links "Fallibilism" by Stephen Hetherington in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy "Fallibilism" by Nicholas Rescher in the