- [0] Should "questioning" only be used with [a subject referencing] a sentient agent?
Rapidly dealing with obviously literary personifications such as [Lit Charts; courtesy of Google]
and metonymic examples
- Westminster questioned Southwark's findings ....
we look at the relevant usage, with examples:
[Metaphor Hacker; courtesy of Google;
amended]:
- Question used essentially as a passive verb (inanimate pseudo-action)
Sometimes inanimate objects – or processes – are described as
questioning or challenging a situation based on scientific or logical
constraints.
- Example: The broken machinery questioned the reliability of the entire system.
Key Distinction:
While a non-sentient agent can behave in a way that resembles
questioning (for example, looking for information, creating a query
... , it does not have the subjective experience, curiosity, or inner
life required to "question" in a conscious sense, the core meaning of
the word. It is technically a simulation of questioning.
... Ricardo's investigation of machinery questioned this confident conclusion .... [process ('investigation') is referent ... head noun
of subject] [Dixon Thesis; 1996; City Research Online; courtesy of
Google]
For Somerset, the manner of defeat questioned their Championship credentials [human {non-}achievement] [ESPN.co.uk;
cricket]
Results from a study questioned whether treatment with the drug really improved survival. ['question' = 'raise questions about']
[Cambridge
Dictionary]
The book questions whether people today are better off than their parents were. [transparent broadening;'question' = 'convey questions about'] [Cambridge
Dictionary]
The broken machinery questioned the reliability of the entire system. ['question' = 'raise questions about'] [see above]
The blank page questioned my creativity. [imaginative personified usage] Quora; courtesy of Google
But these broadened usages, technically still personifications but in the everyday domain, are admittedly rare. Merriam-Webster gives one example of a partly broadened (with referent some book / article / paper / poem / film ..., and metonymy: '[The author of ... this book [in the book] questions ...') usage:
- 'Love in the Time of Cholera'† questions the virtue of patience.
among about 30, the rest with subjects overtly or covertly (passives) referencing people. Also, 'challenge', though often used with non-sentient referents / their associated nouns/NPs as subject, doesn't really work here.
[† Lambie points out that 'Love in the Time of Cholera' is a translation: we have to thank the translator, not the author, for the example sentence.]
So use with care. And note the hedged variant '... seem/ed to question ...'.
[2] is really off-topic, calling for style suggestions. But shargle has made a good one. Both OP's suggestions, in particular 'casting doubts on', are fine. There seems to be no really suitable single-word synonym for 'questioning' in this usage. Merriam-Webster lists no suitable antonyms for 'endorse' / 'advocate' / 'support' / 'champion'. And 'refute' / 'rebut' are absolute, which is introducing an inappropriate modality.
But another acceptable multi-word variant is
- [... doing this causes other problems], {thereby} raising doubts about the usefulness of this solution.
[1] has been addressed in the edit to the question: 'Can a subject referring to a non-sentient agent (a process ... 'doing this' ... or something material but inanimate ( the smashed car ...) be used with 'question / questioning etc?'
