Why do philosophers such as Nietzsche doubt everything?

I’m not sure that’s the right way to characterize Nietzsche, but skepticism –doubting things –is one of the four essential services philosophers provide to a society (the other three are mystical guidance, system-building, and practical guidance).

In general a society cannot function smoothly if all things are questioned at all times. If things –social structures, moral values, traditions, customs, and so forth– are taken for granted, however, then they can become corrupt, stagnant or obsolete. By casting a skeptical eye on things that everyone else takes for granted, a philosopher such as the one you mention clears out a society’s accumulated conceptual detritus and paves the way for progress.

Other famous skeptical philosophers include Socrates, the Zen Buddhists, Chang Tzu, Sextus Empiricus and David Hume.

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