The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) — known until 2006 as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP) — is an American organisation dedicated to promoting scientific inquiry, critical investigation, and reason in examining paranormal, pseudoscientific, and other extraordinary claims. It has operated as a programme of the Center for Inquiry (CFI) since 2015, having previously existed as an independent non-profit.[1]
Founding
Paul Kurtz proposed CSICOP's establishment at a symposium titled "The New Irrationalisms: Antiscience and Pseudoscience," held at SUNY Buffalo. The organisation was officially launched at a specially convened conference of the American Humanist Association on 30 April and 1 May 1976, with Paul Kurtz, James Randi, Martin Gardner, and Ray Hyman taking seats on its founding executive board, alongside supporters including Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, and B. F. Skinner.[2]
Early disputes
CSICOP's founding period was marked by internal disagreement over the organisation's approach. Sociologist Marcello Truzzi, an early member, accused the group of "acting more like lawyers," adopting a position of dismissal before properly evaluating paranormal claims, and criticised what he called its "debunking stance." Gardner, in turn, opposed extending CSICOP membership to believers in the paranormal, arguing Truzzi's more open approach "conferred too much respectability to nonsense." The dispute contributed to Truzzi's departure from the organisation not long after its founding.[3]
Activities
CSI's central publication is Skeptical Inquirer, a bimonthly magazine first published in 1976 and still running today. The organisation investigates a broad range of claims, spanning paranormal subjects such as UFO sightings and psychic phenomena alongside pseudoscience, astrology, alternative medicine, and religious cults more generally.[4] Its position rests on the principle that extraordinary claims must be reliably demonstrated rather than assumed true by default — closely related to the Sagan standard discussed more generally on The Vault's Skepticism page. Critics of the organisation have accused some of its members of "pseudo-skepticism," alleging a fixed prior assumption that paranormal claims are false regardless of evidence presented.[4]
2006 renaming
Following a roughly seven-year hiatus in the organisation's regular conferences in the mid-2000s, and internal discussion about its leadership and future direction, CSICOP's Executive Council voted on 4 December 2006 to shorten the organisation's name to the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry, broadening its stated mission beyond claims specifically framed as "paranormal."[5]
Today
CSI is based in Amherst, New York, as part of the Center for Inquiry, and is led by executive director Stephen Hupp. The organisation marked its 50th anniversary on 1 May 2026, with a year-long series of celebrations culminating in the CSICon 2026 conference held in Buffalo, New York, featuring speakers including Bill Nye, Mary Roach, and the hosts of The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe podcast.[2]
See also
References
- ↑ "Committee for Skeptical Inquiry."RationalWiki.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Committee for Skeptical Inquiry celebrates 50 years."beenews.com.1 May 2026.
- ↑ "Committee for Skeptical Inquiry."Wikipedia.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Committee for Skeptical Inquiry."AcademiaLab.
- ↑ "Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI)."Library of Congress.