Agnostic atheism
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Agnostic atheism, also called Atheistic agnosticism, encompasses atheism and agnosticism. An agnostic atheist is atheistic because he or she does not believe in the existence of any deity and is also agnostic because he or she does not claim to have definitive knowledge that a deity does not exist. The agnostic atheist may be contrasted with the agnostic theist, who does believe that one or more deities exist but does not claim to have definitive knowledge of this.
It is possible for an agnostic atheist to subscribe to weak atheism but not to strong atheism as strong atheism makes the claim that no God(s) exist, a claim of knowledge that violates agnosticism's touchstone propostion that knowledge of God(s) is impossible for the time being, or impossible altogether.
Individuals identifying as agnostic atheists may justify their position by reference to epistemology, theory of justification or Occam's razor.
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[edit] Examples
Bertrand Russell uses the example of the celestial teapot. He argues that although it is impossible to know that the teapot does not exist, most people would not believe in it.
Prominent atheist Richard Dawkins makes a similar point:
I am an agnostic only to the extent that I am agnostic about fairies at the bottom of the garden.
—Richard Dawkins
[edit] History
One of the earliest definitions of agnostic atheism is that of Robert Flint, in his Croall Lecture of 1887-1888 (published in 1903 under the title Agnosticism).
"The atheist may however be, and not unfrequently is, an agnostic. There is an agnostic atheism or atheistic agnosticism, and the combination of atheism with agnosticism which may be so named is not an uncommon one."[1]
"If a man has failed to find any good reason for believing that there is a God, it is perfectly natural and rational that he should not believe that there is a God; and if so, he is an atheist... if he goes farther, and, after an investigation into the nature and reach of human knowledge, ending in the conclusion that the existence of God is incapable of proof, cease to believe in it on the ground that he cannot know it to be true, he is an agnostic and also an atheist - an agnostic-atheist - an atheist because an agnostic... while, then, it is erroneous to identify agnosticism and atheism, it is equally erroneous so to separate them as if the one were exclusive of the other..."[1]
[edit] References
[edit] Further reading
- Martin, Michael. Theism. MSN Encarta, 2000. Microsoft Corporation.
- Martin, Michael. Atheism: A Philosophical Justification. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1992. ISBN 0-87722-943-0
- Smith, George H. Atheism: The Case Against God. 1st ed. Amherst: Prometheus Books, 1980. ISBN 0-87975-124-X
- Stein, Gordon. The Encyclopedia of Unbelief. Amherst: Prometheus Books, 1985. ISBN 0-87975-307-2
[edit] External links
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