CHAPTER VIII.
THEORIES OF CERTITUDE AND SKEPTICISM.
We formerly adverted to the distinction between Dogmatic and Skeptical Atheism; and, believing that the _latter_ is the form in which it is most prevalent, as well as most insidious and plausible, we now propose to review some recent theories both of Certitude and Skepticism, which have sometimes been applied to throw doubt on the evidence of Christian Theism.
The Academy of Moral and Political Sciences in the French Institute announced in 1843 the theory of Certitude as the subject of a Prize Essay, and issued the following _programme_ as a guide to the competitors in the selection of the principal topics of discussion: "1.

To determine the character of Certitude, and what distinguishes it from everything else.

For example, Is Certitude the same with the highest probability?
"2.

What is the faculty, or what are the faculties, which give us Certitude?
If several faculties of knowledge are supposed to exist, to state with precision the differences between them.
"3.

Of Truth and its foundations.