"Doubt" - a Postmodern Epistemology

Brilliant movie! The best description I can think of is that it is a postmodern exploration of our sources for knowledge. The movie forces the viewer to ask questions about how we can "know" what it is we feel we "know". How do we come to "feel" certain? Is faith possible without doubt? Is doubt an act of faith? Is a search for truth a journey into the destruction of faith?

All of the performances are wonderful and each character helps us visualize a different foundation for epistemology. For some, our certainty remains in question until we acquire a particular level of evidence. For others, a declaration from some source of authority helps us claim to "know" with certainty. At times, we just can't locate the reasons why we feel so certain. These characters help us see that any search for truth is not a linear path from doubt to faith to certainty; it's more of a constant interplay between all three. In the end, the movie explores the risks we take when we attempt to locate truth, a search which demands a willful sacrifice of our certainty, a deconstruction of our faith, and a full embrace of our darkest doubts.

A few of my favorite lines from the movie...

"You just want things to be resolved so you can have simplicity back" - Sister Aloysius

"Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty" - Father Flynn

"It is unsettling to look at people with suspicion. I feel less close to God" - Sister James

"When you take a step to address wrongdoing, you are taking a step away from God" - Sister Aloysius

Julia Sweeney on God