Skepticism is not the goal of scholarship. Here I am in total agreement. A critical mind is not automatically a skeptic mind. The key word is not skepticism but criticism. A scholar -- a better in the continental European tradition – a humanist (or humanistic scientist) – is bound by the same rules for how to study his or hers subject as their colleagues in natural sciences, demanding a 100 % critical mind: Meaning that everything is open for investigations and research. If you begin with a 100% skeptical attitude: This cannot be true! then you have already blocked the admission to a proper study of your subject. You have already made a decision which really belongs to the conclusions and not to the preamble of your investigation.
Skepticism is not the goal of scholarship. Here I am in total agreement. A critical mind is not automatically a skeptic mind. The key word is not skepticism but criticism. A scholar -- a better in the continental European tradition – a humanist (or humanistic scientist) – is bound by the same rules for how to study his or hers subject as their colleagues in natural sciences, demanding a 100 % critical mind: Meaning that everything is open for investigations and research. If you begin with a 100% skeptical attitude: This cannot be true! then you have already blocked the admission to a proper study of your subject. You have already made a decision which really belongs to the conclusions and not to the preamble of your investigation.