scetticoscettica

Scetticoscettica is a neologism in contemporary Italian philosophy describing a meta-skeptical stance that treats skepticism as a topic of inquiry rather than a final position. It analyzes how skeptical methods are produced, justified, and communicated, and it questions whether the tools of doubt themselves require justification. Proponents argue that scetticoscettica helps avoid both dogmatic skepticism and naive credulity by demanding transparent criteria for when doubt is warranted and by acknowledging the influences of cognitive biases, social context, and methodological assumptions.

Origin and usage: the term combines scettico (skeptic) and scettica (the feminine form) to evoke skepticism about skepticism itself. It appears in Italian-language philosophical discussions and online discourse since the early 21st century, but it lacks a single governing definition.

Core tenets include productive doubt as a means to improve reliability, meta-justification of skeptical claims, fallibilist humility toward knowledge claims, and the search for practical epistemic thresholds rather than absolute certainty. Scetticoscettica emphasizes transparency about evidence, methods, and criteria for doubt, while resisting both blanket denial of knowledge and uncritical acceptance.

Relation to other ideas: it intersects with metaepistemology and epistemic virtue theory, offering a framework to examine the normative bases of skepticism itself. Critics argue that it risks self-referential circularity or undermining inquiry, while supporters view it as a constructive guardrail against cynicism.

See also: skepticism, metaepistemology, epistemic virtue, fallibilism.