Atheism vs Agnosticism?

[joacqin]

I have on several occasions here, most recently in Fox McClouds creative god thread seen a clash between the various definitions of atheism and agnosticism. So now, perhaps not once and for all, but we could at least try to reach some sort of answer.

For me personally agnosticism is a completely neutral stance, one neither disbelieve nor believe in any religion. Christian God may, or may not, exist. Allah, may, or may not exist. Somekind of higher being masterminding the whole universe may, or may not exist and so on.

Atheism on the other hand is in my view to be convinced that there is no divine being as being preached by any religion. That there is no Christian God, no Allah, no Kali, no Shiva, no Odin, no Mystra, no Zeus and so on and so on. It does not rule out the possibility of some sort of higher being. For me it rules out the relevance of the possible existance of a higher being. The existance or non-existance of a higher being has no meaning or impact whatsover on a human life.

So to sum it up, I define agnosticism as: I dont know and atheism as: I know that you are wrong but lack the knowledge to give you an alternative nor do I see the need for an alternative.

 

[Shadylookin]

I have on several occasions here, most recently in Fox McClouds creative god thread seen a clash between the various definitions of atheism and agnosticism. So now, perhaps not once and for all, but we could at least try to reach some sort of answer.

For me personally agnosticism is a completely neutral stance, one neither disbelieve nor believe in any religion. Christian God may, or may not, exist. Allah, may, or may not exist. Somekind of higher being masterminding the whole universe may, or may not exist and so on.

Atheism on the other hand is in my view to be convinced that there is no divine being as being preached by any religion. That there is no Christian God, no Allah, no Kali, no Shiva, no Odin, no Mystra, no Zeus and so on and so on. It does not rule out the possibility of some sort of higher being. For me it rules out the relevance of the possible existance of a higher being. The existance or non-existance of a higher being has no meaning or impact whatsover on a human life.

So to sum it up, I define agnosticism as: I dont know and atheism as: I know that you are wrong but lack the knowledge to give you an alternative nor do I see the need for an alternative.

atheism is without theism. a=lacking or without. which means you don't believe in god. A positive denial of god (saying there is no god period) is strong atheism

agnosticism is without knowledge. gnostic means knowledge a means without. it is typically used on the god question meaning you have no knowledge/empiracle evidence of god. Agnosticism isn't the middle ground of atheism and theism it deals with a whole other question entirely(is god provable) agnostics can actually believe in god

 

[sourboy]

atheism is without theism. a=lacking or without. which means you don't believe in god. A positive denial of god (saying there is no god period) is strong atheism

agnosticism is without knowledge. gnostic means knowledge a means without. it is typically used on the god question meaning you have no knowledge/empiracle evidence of god. Agnosticism isn't the middle ground of atheism and theism it deals with a whole other question entirely(is god provable) agnostics can actually believe in god

Very well said.

 

[Fetus4188]

agnosticism is without knowledge. gnostic means knowledge a means without. it is typically used on the god question meaning you have no knowledge/empiracle evidence of god. Agnosticism isn't the middle ground of atheism and theism it deals with a whole other question entirely(is god provable) agnostics can actually believe in god

Exactly, I, for example, am an agnostic who believes there is some sort of higher being but recognize that there is no way to prove or disprove this.

 

[Keirador]

atheist:
n. One who disbelieves or denies the existence of God or gods.

agnostic
n.
1. One who believes that it is impossible to know whether there is a God.
2. One who is skeptical about the existence of God but does not profess true atheism.

To my understanding, agnostics include people who do not believe in a god, but acknowledge he cannot be disproven and acknowledge a possibility, however infinitely slight that possibility may be, that a god exists.

Atheists completely deny the existence of a god, allowing for no possibility whatsoever of the existence of a divine power of any kind. It seems an odd claim to me, to KNOW something that one really has no proof of either way. Seems like "faith" to me.

 

[Neonanocyborgasm]

Many people point to the differences between atheism and agnosticism, however, as far as I'm concerned, both are differently only semantically. Both people regard religion as dubious at the very least and outright stupid at the worst. To me, that's good enough.

 

[cgannon64]

To me, agnosticism is the belief that nothing can be truly known. Athiesm is the belief that God does not exist.

However, in my discussion with gothmog, he is making it seem to me that you can be an agnostic and follow a religion. (By beleiving that truth cannot be certain, but you beleive your ideas to be truthful.)

 

[shortguy]

Atheists completely deny the existence of a god, allowing for no possibility whatsoever of the existence of a divine power of any kind. It seems an odd claim to me, to KNOW something that one really has no proof of either way. Seems like "faith" to me.

Not quite. What you describe is called "strong atheism", the belief that a god doesn't (can't) exist. On the other hand, there is "weak atheism", which denies the truth of specific religions but is much less dogmatic about the god question.

 

[Mescalhead]

Implicit Atheist--Does not believe in god because there is no evidence for it. If evidence to the contrary were offered, the implicit atheist may take it into consideration.

Explicit Atheist--Believes there is no god, and no evidence to the contrary could be offered up because there is no god.

Agnostic--Doesn't believe either way because god's existence cannot be proven or disproven. No evidence supporting either scenario could reasonably be seen as accurate or substantial.

 

[Mathilda]

Give this a name:
I think god most likely doesn't exist.
I don't think there'll ever be absolute proof one way or the other.
I think we'll have to wait till we die to find out.
Mainly out of respect for millions of people who believe that god does exist I'm prepared to accept the possibility that I'm wrong.
Therefore, should it turn out that he does exist, I don't want to have anything to do with him.
Not now, not after my death.

 

[Masquerouge]

So to sum it up, I define agnosticism as: I dont know and atheism as: I know that you are wrong but lack the knowledge to give you an alternative nor do I see the need for an alternative.

Man, the first part of your post is great, but I completely disagree with your summary !
Why do you make such a lengthy definition for atheism ? Atheism is simply there is no god. Period.

Mescalhead's definitions are quite good

 

[Steph]

I'm agnostic.
For me, it means:
- The existence or non existence of God cannot be proven. So I don't know it there is a God or not.
- If God existed, his will and scheme are beyong human comprehension, therefore people who claim to know it are liars or mistaken
- Therefore, I deny a "godly" fundment to religions, there are only human construction to fulfill the need of some for belief. This means I don't see why I should follow a rule to please God or avoid his punishment, because it's not possible to know what would please him or not if he existed.

My morale rules are thus not based on religion or God commands.

 

[Scuffer]

I don't believe there is a God of any sort. However, I have absolutely no evidence for this and will freely admit I might be wrong. I still believe there is no God.

I guess that puts me somewhere between the two.

 

[Stapel]

To me, agnosticism is the belief that nothing can be truly known. Athiesm is the belief that God does not exist.

I find that a weird pov.
Atheists usually do not believe. Not in the existance of any gods, nor in the non-existance of any gods.

Believing God does exist, imho, is rather weird already, but believing in the non-existance of something is completely out of line.

There is quite a difference between : I do not believe in God & I belibe there is no God.

Does anyone actually believe in the non-existance of a planet with a billion hot looking girls and CIV XXVIII already out? Or do we simply not believe there is such a planet?

 

[Aphex_Twin]

Give this a name:

Let's give it a try

I think god most likely doesn't exist.

Weak Atheist.

I don't think there'll ever be absolute proof one way or the other.

Agnostic.

I think we'll have to wait till we die to find out.

Agnostic.

You do seem to believe in life or consciousness after death. You can not acknowledge something (i.e. "find out") if you are not conscious.

Mainly out of respect for millions of people who believe that god does exist I'm prepared to accept the possibility that I'm wrong.

Weak Atheist.

If there won't be absolute proof either way, how can you admit you are wrong?

Therefore, should it turn out that he does exist, I don't want to have anything to do with him.
Not now, not after my death.

Agnostic.


I think you are Agnostic, but are not 100% sure.

 

[Scuffer]

Why not invent a whole new term instead? How about Athenostic?

 

[Aphex_Twin]

Or slightly inconsistent Agnosticism.

 

[col]

I'm with Stapel. There is a big difference between

I believe there is no god

and

I dont believe there is a god.

I simply dont believe god exists. How should I go about making myself believe? Is there a method by which I can learn to believe? I am simply aware that I have no such belief.

 

[Mathilda]

@ Aphex Twin - Nice try
I don't know the answer myself, that's why I asked.
I'm not sure there is conciousness after death, but there might be.
I think that will be the first opportunity to find out The Truth.
As for new names, let me suggest Mathildaism Would be cool to have a philosophy named after me.

 

[Akka]

Well, Mathilda, I've nearly exactly the same opinion than you.
I'm afraid that mathildaism wouldn't be appropriate, then ^^

I simply say that I'm agnostic with strong atheistics tendancies. Would you accept this (admitedly longer) denomination ? ^^