Skepticism opposes dogmatism in that it asserts that it is impossible to know and, therefore, the interruption or cessation of all judgment. There is a contradiction within skepticism, as stating the impossibility of knowledge presupposes knowledge.
According to this philosophical current, we cannot attain the truth, that is, the knowledge of skiing, because all truth is relative and we cannot be permanently certain of anything. We search for the best technical way to find it, but we cannot find it because we find ‘this’ truth or ‘that’ truth. Our own limitations and the sensitive information that is not without omissions, make us doubt our ability to achieve ideal skiing. Even if we doubt our abilities we can overcome our skepticism since, by erring, we are finding the truth: an inappropriate way of skiing.
Relativism is an intermediate position that does not deny knowledge but relativizes it to each skier by framing it as subjectivism or anthropocentrism, in that we, as skiers, would be the measure of all things related to skiing.
Relativism affirms that there is no truth, but rather enunciations dependent on something like, for example, a technical relativism that says that everything we affirm as skiing truth will depend on the technical level of our skiing. Relativism exhibits the paradox of skepticism, since in holding that everything is relative, it would be relative that “everything is relative”.
In pragmatism, pragmatic truth refers to any solution that serves a specific objective. The pragmatist skier places emphasis on action over intellectual, solely technical, and speculative skiing. For him, the truth of skiing knowledge is what is useful for his own skiing.
Critique is characterized by adopting an analytical and questioning attitude. Criticism considers it is necessary to make an attentive and justified observation of the way we attain knowledge, in our case, skiing knowledge. For the critical skier, inquiring into knowledge is superior to being a skier.
In his apriorism, Kant posited that merely theoretical opinions without empirical evidence are devoid of substance, and that empirical analyses lacking theoretical frameworks to comprehend them are blind. He argued that, in addition to the intermediate position of intellectualism as a solution to the problem of knowledge, a priori forms determine the knowledge of something.
The philosophical current known as realism consider that there are objects independent of the knowing subject, in our case, skiing. For the realistic skier, which is akin to the naive dogmatist, the skiing world is as perceived by his senses, and he does not ponder whether it may not be so. For realism, our mind would be like a tabula rasa where sensible data are inscribed and it is limited to passively receiving it.
Determinism holds that skiing is influenced by factors beyond our control, thereby rendering us ultimately not responsible for how we ski. This philosophical current considers that all phenomena are prefixed by the circumstances or conditions under which they occur. Therefore, none of the acts of our will when skiing is free but necessarily pre-established.
Determinism is comprised of genetic determinism, which holds that our behavior is influenced by the generational passage of DNA; psychic determinism, which proposes that we behave according to our childhood experiences, which have shaped our personal tendency to ski in adulthood; and environmental determinism, which holds that the environment exerts influence and is accountable for our behavior in a given situation.
Phenomenalism claims that it is impossible to comprehend things as they are, but rather their phenomena in terms of being-in-the-world through our body itself, which is neither an instrument of our mind nor an enemy of reason, but an experiencing entity. According to the philosophy of phenomenalism, we are our body and through it, we conquer the mountain.
For functionalism, which sustains that mental experiences arise from our adaptation to the environment, consciousness is merely a computer program, a ‘software’ running on physical ‘hardware’.
Intuitionism holds that we know simply by means of the immediate grasp of the object.
For vital reasons, there is no independence of things or the subject, but there is an I-with-things. Skiing reality consists of what we do with things, including snow, skis, and terrain. Our primary reality is our skiing, and each of us has a different perspective. From there, we can know skiing.
Under the dogmatic-absolutist perspective, we can assume three positions with respect to knowledge: that of the ignorant (we do not know the skiing truth), that of the scholar (we seek the truth), and that of the sage (we know the truth). On the contrary, the scientific-relativist position states that skiing knowledge exists, but refutes that it is absolute, arguing that all knowledge is founded on experience, and as experience is relative, so is knowledge.
