Jump to content

List of agnostics: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Content deleted Content added
m ISBNs Dated {{Deletable image-caption}}. (Build KH)
Made some extra additions to this list.
Line 231: Line 231:
*[[Emile Berliner]] (1851—1929), German-born American inventor. He is best known for developing the disc record [[gramophone]] (phonograph in American English).<ref>"Concerning Emile Berliner, The Jew TO BE a Jew may mean one of several identities. For example, the Jew, Emile Berliner, the late inventor, called himself agnostic." B'nai B'rith, ''The National Jewish monthly: Volume 43; Volume 43''.</ref><ref>"In 1899, Berliner wrote a book, Conclusions, that speaks of his agnostic ideas on religion and philosophy." Seymour Brody, ''Jewish heroes & heroines of America: 151 true stories of Jewish American heroism'' (2003), page 119.</ref>
*[[Emile Berliner]] (1851—1929), German-born American inventor. He is best known for developing the disc record [[gramophone]] (phonograph in American English).<ref>"Concerning Emile Berliner, The Jew TO BE a Jew may mean one of several identities. For example, the Jew, Emile Berliner, the late inventor, called himself agnostic." B'nai B'rith, ''The National Jewish monthly: Volume 43; Volume 43''.</ref><ref>"In 1899, Berliner wrote a book, Conclusions, that speaks of his agnostic ideas on religion and philosophy." Seymour Brody, ''Jewish heroes & heroines of America: 151 true stories of Jewish American heroism'' (2003), page 119.</ref>
*[[Claude Bernard]] (1813–1878), French [[physiologist]]. He was the first to define the term ''[[milieu intérieur]]'' (now known as [[homeostasis]], a term coined by [[Walter Bradford Cannon]]).<ref>{{cite book|title=Doctors and Discoveries: Lives That Created Today's Medicine|year=2002|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=978-0-618-15276-6|author=John G. Simmons|accessdate=26 April 2012|page=17|quote=Upon his death on February 10, 1878, Bernard received a state funeral - the first French scientist to be so honored. The procession ended at Pere Lachaise cemetery, and Gustave Flaubert described it later with a touch of irony as "religious and very beautiful." Bernard was an agnostic.}}</ref>
*[[Claude Bernard]] (1813–1878), French [[physiologist]]. He was the first to define the term ''[[milieu intérieur]]'' (now known as [[homeostasis]], a term coined by [[Walter Bradford Cannon]]).<ref>{{cite book|title=Doctors and Discoveries: Lives That Created Today's Medicine|year=2002|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=978-0-618-15276-6|author=John G. Simmons|accessdate=26 April 2012|page=17|quote=Upon his death on February 10, 1878, Bernard received a state funeral - the first French scientist to be so honored. The procession ended at Pere Lachaise cemetery, and Gustave Flaubert described it later with a touch of irony as "religious and very beautiful." Bernard was an agnostic.}}</ref>
*[[Nicolaas Bloembergen]] (born 1920), Dutch-American physicist. Bloembergen shared the 1981 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] with [[Arthur Leonard Schawlow|Arthur Schawlow]] and [[Kai Manne Boerje Siegbahn|Kai Siegbahn]] for their work in [[laser]] [[spectroscopy]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_125833&feature=iv&src_vid=s47ArcQL-XQ&v=6Gt4WSK_NlQ|accessdate=11 May 2012|author=JPararajasingham}}</ref>
*[[Nicolaas Bloembergen]] (born 1920), Dutch-American physicist. Bloembergen shared the 1981 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] with [[Arthur Leonard Schawlow|Arthur Schawlow]] and [[Kai Manne Boerje Siegbahn|Kai Siegbahn]] for their work in [[laser]] [[spectroscopy]].<ref>{{cite web|title=50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s47ArcQL-XQ|publisher=JPararajasingham|accessdate=12 May 2012}}</ref>
*[[David Bohm]] (1917–1992), American-born British quantum physicist who contributed to theoretical physics, philosophy of mind, neuropsychology.<ref>"By the time he reached his late teens, he had become firmly agnostic." F. David Peat, ''Infinite Potential: The Life and Times of David Bohm'' (1997), page 21.</ref>
*[[David Bohm]] (1917–1992), American-born British quantum physicist who contributed to theoretical physics, philosophy of mind, neuropsychology.<ref>"By the time he reached his late teens, he had become firmly agnostic." F. David Peat, ''Infinite Potential: The Life and Times of David Bohm'' (1997), page 21.</ref>
*[[George Boole]] (1815–1864), English mathematician and logician. Best known for developing [[Boolean algebra]]. He has also been labeled a [[deist]] as well.<ref>"MacHale's biography calls George Boole 'an agnostic deist'..." International Association for Semiotic Studies, International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies, International Social Science Council, ''Semiotica: Volume 105'' (1995), page 56.</ref>
*[[George Boole]] (1815–1864), English mathematician and logician. Best known for developing [[Boolean algebra]]. He has also been labeled a [[deist]] as well.<ref>"MacHale's biography calls George Boole 'an agnostic deist'..." International Association for Semiotic Studies, International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies, International Social Science Council, ''Semiotica: Volume 105'' (1995), page 56.</ref>
Line 257: Line 257:
*[[Francis Galton]] (1822–1911), English Victorian polymath: anthropologist, eugenicist, tropical explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, proto-geneticist, psychometrician, and statistician. He is also a cousin of Charles Darwin.<ref>
*[[Francis Galton]] (1822–1911), English Victorian polymath: anthropologist, eugenicist, tropical explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, proto-geneticist, psychometrician, and statistician. He is also a cousin of Charles Darwin.<ref>
"The publication of Darwin’s ‘‘Origin of Species’’ totally transformed his intellectual life, giving him a sense of evolutionary process without which much of his later work would have been unimaginable. Galton became a ‘‘religious agnostic’’, recognising the social value of religion but not its transcendental basis." Robert Peel, [http://www.galtoninstitute.org.uk/Newsletters/GINL9112/Sir_Francis_Galton.htm Sir Francis Galton FRS (1822-1911) - The Legacy of His Ideas -].</ref>
"The publication of Darwin’s ‘‘Origin of Species’’ totally transformed his intellectual life, giving him a sense of evolutionary process without which much of his later work would have been unimaginable. Galton became a ‘‘religious agnostic’’, recognising the social value of religion but not its transcendental basis." Robert Peel, [http://www.galtoninstitute.org.uk/Newsletters/GINL9112/Sir_Francis_Galton.htm Sir Francis Galton FRS (1822-1911) - The Legacy of His Ideas -].</ref>
*[[Roy J. Glauber]] (born 1925), American theoretical physicist. He was awarded one half of the 2005 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] "for his contribution to the quantum theory of [[Coherence (physics)|optical coherence]]", with the other half shared by [[John L. Hall]] and [[Theodor W. Hänsch]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_125833&feature=iv&src_vid=s47ArcQL-XQ&v=6Gt4WSK_NlQ|accessdate=11 May 2012|author=JPararajasingham}}</ref>
*[[David Gross]] (born 1941), American particle physicist and string theorist. Along with [[Frank Wilczek]] and [[David Politzer]], he was awarded the 2004 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] for their discovery of [[asymptotic freedom]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_125833&feature=iv&src_vid=s47ArcQL-XQ&v=6Gt4WSK_NlQ|accessdate=11 May 2012|author=JPararajasingham}}</ref>
*[[John Gurdon]] (born 1933), British developmental biologist. He is best known for his pioneering research in [[Somatic cell nuclear transfer|nuclear transplantation]] and [[cloning]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_125833&feature=iv&src_vid=s47ArcQL-XQ&v=6Gt4WSK_NlQ|accessdate=11 May 2012|author=JPararajasingham}}</ref>
*[[John Gurdon]] (born 1933), British developmental biologist. He is best known for his pioneering research in [[Somatic cell nuclear transfer|nuclear transplantation]] and [[cloning]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_125833&feature=iv&src_vid=s47ArcQL-XQ&v=6Gt4WSK_NlQ|accessdate=11 May 2012|author=JPararajasingham}}</ref>
*[[Murray Gell-Mann]] (born 1929), American physicist and linguist who received the 1969 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] for his work on the theory of [[elementary particles]].<ref>"Feynman, Gell-Man, Weinberg, and their peers accept Newton's incomparable stature and shrug off his piety, on the kindly thought that the old man got into the game too early. ...As for Gell-Mann, he seems to see nothing to discuss in this entire God business, and in the index to ''The Quark and the Jaguar'' God goes unmentioned. Life he called a "complex adaptive system" which produces interesting phenomena such as the jaguar and Murray Gell-Mann, who discovered the quark. Gell-Mann is a Nobel-class tackler of problems, but for him the existence of God is not one of them." Herman Wouk, ''The Language God Talks: On Science and Religion'' (2010).</ref><ref>"So we don’t have to assume these principles as separate metaphysical postulates. They follow from the fundamental theory. They are what we call emergent properties. You don’t need something more to get something more. That’s what emergence means. Life can emerge from physics and chemistry, plus a lot of accidents. The human mind can arise from neurobiology, and a lot of accidents. The way the chemical bond arises from physics and certain accidents. Doesn’t diminish the importance of these subjects, to know that they follow from more fundamental things, plus accidents. That’s a general rule, and it’s critically important to realize that. You don’t need something more in order to get something more. People keep asking that when they read my book, The Quark and the Jaguar, and they say ‘isn’t there something more beyond what you have there?’ Presumably they mean something supernatural. Anyway, there isn’t. (laughs) You don’t need something more to explain something more." Murray Gell-Mann, [http://blog.ted.com/2007/12/06/murray_gellmann/ Beauty and truth in physics: Murray Gell-Mann on TED.com] (2007), ''Ted.com''.</ref><ref>Listed as an agnostic on ''NNDB.com''. [http://www.nndb.com/people/310/000023241/ Murray Gell-Mann], ''NNDB.com''.</ref>
*[[Murray Gell-Mann]] (born 1929), American physicist and linguist who received the 1969 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] for his work on the theory of [[elementary particles]].<ref>"Feynman, Gell-Man, Weinberg, and their peers accept Newton's incomparable stature and shrug off his piety, on the kindly thought that the old man got into the game too early. ...As for Gell-Mann, he seems to see nothing to discuss in this entire God business, and in the index to ''The Quark and the Jaguar'' God goes unmentioned. Life he called a "complex adaptive system" which produces interesting phenomena such as the jaguar and Murray Gell-Mann, who discovered the quark. Gell-Mann is a Nobel-class tackler of problems, but for him the existence of God is not one of them." Herman Wouk, ''The Language God Talks: On Science and Religion'' (2010).</ref><ref>"So we don’t have to assume these principles as separate metaphysical postulates. They follow from the fundamental theory. They are what we call emergent properties. You don’t need something more to get something more. That’s what emergence means. Life can emerge from physics and chemistry, plus a lot of accidents. The human mind can arise from neurobiology, and a lot of accidents. The way the chemical bond arises from physics and certain accidents. Doesn’t diminish the importance of these subjects, to know that they follow from more fundamental things, plus accidents. That’s a general rule, and it’s critically important to realize that. You don’t need something more in order to get something more. People keep asking that when they read my book, The Quark and the Jaguar, and they say ‘isn’t there something more beyond what you have there?’ Presumably they mean something supernatural. Anyway, there isn’t. (laughs) You don’t need something more to explain something more." Murray Gell-Mann, [http://blog.ted.com/2007/12/06/murray_gellmann/ Beauty and truth in physics: Murray Gell-Mann on TED.com] (2007), ''Ted.com''.</ref><ref>Listed as an agnostic on ''NNDB.com''. [http://www.nndb.com/people/310/000023241/ Murray Gell-Mann], ''NNDB.com''.</ref>
*[[Stephen Jay Gould]] (1941–2002), American [[Paleontology|paleontologist]], [[Evolution|evolutionary biologist]], [[History of science|science historian]] and [[popular science|popularizer]]. Gould called himself a "Jewish agnostic".<ref>"...I certainly felt bemused by the anomaly of my role as a Jewish agnostic, trying to reassure a group of Catholic priests that evolution remained both true and entirely consistent with religious belief." [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_noma.html Nonoverlapping Magisteria], by Stephen Jay Gould, ''Natural History'' 106 (March 1997): 16-22; Reprinted from ''[http://www.amazon.com/dp/0609601415/ Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms]'', New York: Harmony Books, 1998, pp. 269-283.</ref>
*[[Stephen Jay Gould]] (1941–2002), American [[Paleontology|paleontologist]], [[Evolution|evolutionary biologist]], [[History of science|science historian]] and [[popular science|popularizer]]. Gould called himself a "Jewish agnostic".<ref>"...I certainly felt bemused by the anomaly of my role as a Jewish agnostic, trying to reassure a group of Catholic priests that evolution remained both true and entirely consistent with religious belief." [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/gould_noma.html Nonoverlapping Magisteria], by Stephen Jay Gould, ''Natural History'' 106 (March 1997): 16-22; Reprinted from ''[http://www.amazon.com/dp/0609601415/ Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms]'', New York: Harmony Books, 1998, pp. 269-283.</ref>
*[[Theodor W. Hänsch]] (born 1941), [[Germany|German]] [[physics|physicist]]. He received one fourth of the 2005 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] for "contributions to the development of [[laser]]-based precision [[spectroscopy]], including the optical [[frequency comb]] technique", sharing the prize with [[John L. Hall]] and [[Roy J. Glauber]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_125833&feature=iv&src_vid=s47ArcQL-XQ&v=6Gt4WSK_NlQ|accessdate=11 May 2012|author=JPararajasingham}}</ref>
*[[Theodor W. Hänsch]] (born 1941), [[Germany|German]] [[physics|physicist]]. He received one fourth of the 2005 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] for "contributions to the development of [[laser]]-based precision [[spectroscopy]], including the optical [[frequency comb]] technique", sharing the prize with [[John L. Hall]] and [[Roy J. Glauber]].<ref>{{cite web|title=50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s47ArcQL-XQ|publisher=JPararajasingham|accessdate=12 May 2012}}</ref>
*[[Friedrich Hayek]] (1899–1992), Austrian economist and philosopher. Best known for his defense of [[classical liberalism]] and [[free-market capitalism]]. Along with [[Gunnar Myrdal]], Hayek shared the [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]] in 1974."<ref>
*[[Friedrich Hayek]] (1899–1992), Austrian economist and philosopher. Best known for his defense of [[classical liberalism]] and [[free-market capitalism]]. Along with [[Gunnar Myrdal]], Hayek shared the [[Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences]] in 1974."<ref>
"Though Hayek was a self-professed agnostic, we show that his treatment of individual liberty was more consistent with a Judeo-Christian worldview than with that of his naturalist peers and postmodernist successors." Kenneth G. Elzinga, Matthew R. Givens,[http://www.gordon.edu/ace/pdf/F&ESpr09ElzingaandGivens.pdf Christianity and Hayek] (2009), page 53.</ref><ref>
"Though Hayek was a self-professed agnostic, we show that his treatment of individual liberty was more consistent with a Judeo-Christian worldview than with that of his naturalist peers and postmodernist successors." Kenneth G. Elzinga, Matthew R. Givens,[http://www.gordon.edu/ace/pdf/F&ESpr09ElzingaandGivens.pdf Christianity and Hayek] (2009), page 53.</ref><ref>
Line 277: Line 279:
*[[Irving Langmuir]] (1881–1957), American chemist and physicist. He was awarded the 1932 [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] for his work in surface chemistry.<ref>"About his inattention to religion, his usual response was, "Never believe anything that can't be proved."" ''Irving Langmuir'', ''NNDB.com''.[http://www.nndb.com/people/776/000079539/#FN1]</ref><ref>"Though Marion herself was not an assiduous churchgoer and had no serious objection to Irving's agnostic views,..." Chauncey Guy Suits, ''The Collected Works of Irving Langmuir: Langmuir, the man and the scientist, including a biography by Albert Rosenfield'', page 99.</ref>
*[[Irving Langmuir]] (1881–1957), American chemist and physicist. He was awarded the 1932 [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] for his work in surface chemistry.<ref>"About his inattention to religion, his usual response was, "Never believe anything that can't be proved."" ''Irving Langmuir'', ''NNDB.com''.[http://www.nndb.com/people/776/000079539/#FN1]</ref><ref>"Though Marion herself was not an assiduous churchgoer and had no serious objection to Irving's agnostic views,..." Chauncey Guy Suits, ''The Collected Works of Irving Langmuir: Langmuir, the man and the scientist, including a biography by Albert Rosenfield'', page 99.</ref>
*[[Mario Livio]] (born 1945), Israeli-American astrophysicist.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Einstein Dilemma|url=http://discovermagazine.com/2006/aug/cover/article_view?b_start:int=3&-C=|publisher=Discover Magazine|accessdate=11 May 2012|author=Adam Frank|date=August 1, 2006|quote="TeVeS does everything," says Mario Livio with enthusiasm. A self-described agnostic in the MOND debate, but one with an obvious love for the underdog, Livio says that Bekenstein's work is "a phenomenal paper."}}</ref>
*[[Mario Livio]] (born 1945), Israeli-American astrophysicist.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Einstein Dilemma|url=http://discovermagazine.com/2006/aug/cover/article_view?b_start:int=3&-C=|publisher=Discover Magazine|accessdate=11 May 2012|author=Adam Frank|date=August 1, 2006|quote="TeVeS does everything," says Mario Livio with enthusiasm. A self-described agnostic in the MOND debate, but one with an obvious love for the underdog, Livio says that Bekenstein's work is "a phenomenal paper."}}</ref>
*[[Seth Lloyd]] (born 1960), American mechanical engineer. He is a professor of [[mechanical engineering]] at the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_125833&feature=iv&src_vid=s47ArcQL-XQ&v=6Gt4WSK_NlQ|accessdate=11 May 2012|author=JPararajasingham}}</ref>
*[[James Lovelock]] (born 1919), British scientist, environmentalist and futurologist. He is best known for proposing the [[Gaia hypothesis]].<ref>"I'm a scientist, not a theologian. I don't know if there is a God or not. Religion requires certainty. Revere and respect Gaia. Have trust in Gaia. But not faith." James Lovelock, [http://www.salon.com/2000/08/17/lovelock/ James Lovelock, Gaia’s grand old man], Lawrence E. Joseph, August 17, 2000.</ref>
*[[James Lovelock]] (born 1919), British scientist, environmentalist and futurologist. He is best known for proposing the [[Gaia hypothesis]].<ref>"I'm a scientist, not a theologian. I don't know if there is a God or not. Religion requires certainty. Revere and respect Gaia. Have trust in Gaia. But not faith." James Lovelock, [http://www.salon.com/2000/08/17/lovelock/ James Lovelock, Gaia’s grand old man], Lawrence E. Joseph, August 17, 2000.</ref>
*[[Rudolph A. Marcus]] (born 1923), [[Canada|Canadian]]-born chemist who received the 1992 [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] for his theory of [[electron transfer]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_125833&feature=iv&src_vid=s47ArcQL-XQ&v=6Gt4WSK_NlQ|accessdate=11 May 2012|author=JPararajasingham}}</ref>
*[[Rudolph A. Marcus]] (born 1923), [[Canada|Canadian]]-born chemist who received the 1992 [[Nobel Prize in Chemistry]] for his theory of [[electron transfer]].<ref>{{cite web|title=50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s47ArcQL-XQ|publisher=JPararajasingham|accessdate=12 May 2012}}</ref>
*[[Dan McKenzie (geophysicist)]] (born 1942), British geophysicist.<ref>{{cite web|title=Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_125833&feature=iv&src_vid=s47ArcQL-XQ&v=6Gt4WSK_NlQ|accessdate=11 May 2012|author=JPararajasingham}}</ref>
*[[Albert Abraham Michelson]] (1852–1931), American physicist known for his work on the measurement of the speed of light and especially for the [[Michelson-Morley experiment]]. In 1907 he received the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Naukowe|first=Łódzkie|title=Bulletin de la Société des sciences et des lettres de Łódź: Série, Recherches sur les déformations, Volumes 39-42|year=2003|publisher=Société des sciences et des lettres de Łódź|author=Łódzkie Towarzystwo Naukowe|page=162|quote=Michelson's biographers stress, that our hero was not conspicuous by religiousness. His father was a free-thinker and Michelson grew up in non-religious family and have no opportunity to acknowledge the believe of his forebears. He was agnostic through his whole life and only for the short period he was a member of the 21st lodge in Washington.}}</ref>
*[[Albert Abraham Michelson]] (1852–1931), American physicist known for his work on the measurement of the speed of light and especially for the [[Michelson-Morley experiment]]. In 1907 he received the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Naukowe|first=Łódzkie|title=Bulletin de la Société des sciences et des lettres de Łódź: Série, Recherches sur les déformations, Volumes 39-42|year=2003|publisher=Société des sciences et des lettres de Łódź|author=Łódzkie Towarzystwo Naukowe|page=162|quote=Michelson's biographers stress, that our hero was not conspicuous by religiousness. His father was a free-thinker and Michelson grew up in non-religious family and have no opportunity to acknowledge the believe of his forebears. He was agnostic through his whole life and only for the short period he was a member of the 21st lodge in Washington.}}</ref>
*[[Simon van der Meer]] (1925-2011), Dutch particle accelerator [[physicist]] who shared the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] in 1984 with [[Carlo Rubbia]] for contributions to the [[CERN]] project which led to the discovery of the W and Z particles, two of the most fundamental constituents of matter.<ref>"The Dutch Nobel prize-winner, Simon van der Meer expressed this as follows: "As a physicist, you have to have a split personality to be still able to believe in a god."" Alfred Driessen, Antoine Suarez, ''Mathematical undecidability, quantum nonlocality, and the question of the existence of God'' (1997).</ref><ref>Listed as an agnostic on ''NNDB.com''. [http://www.nndb.com/people/971/000099674/ Simon van der Meer], ''NNDB.com''.</ref>
*[[Simon van der Meer]] (1925-2011), Dutch particle accelerator [[physicist]] who shared the [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] in 1984 with [[Carlo Rubbia]] for contributions to the [[CERN]] project which led to the discovery of the W and Z particles, two of the most fundamental constituents of matter.<ref>"The Dutch Nobel prize-winner, Simon van der Meer expressed this as follows: "As a physicist, you have to have a split personality to be still able to believe in a god."" Alfred Driessen, Antoine Suarez, ''Mathematical undecidability, quantum nonlocality, and the question of the existence of God'' (1997).</ref><ref>Listed as an agnostic on ''NNDB.com''. [http://www.nndb.com/people/971/000099674/ Simon van der Meer], ''NNDB.com''.</ref>
Line 298: Line 302:
*[[George Olah]] (born 1927), 1994 [[Nobel Laureate]] in [[Chemistry]], discoverer of [[superacids]],<ref>"Today, I consider myself, in Thomas Huxley's terms, an agnostic. I don’t know whether there is a God or creator, or whatever we may call a higher intelligence or being. I don’t know whether there is an ultimate reason for our being or whether there is anything beyond material phenomena. I may doubt these things as a scientist, as we cannot prove them scientifically, but at the same time we also cannot falsify (disprove) them. For the same reasons, I cannot deny God with certainty, which would make me an atheist. This is a conclusion reached by many scientists." George Olah, A Life of Magic Chemistry</ref>
*[[George Olah]] (born 1927), 1994 [[Nobel Laureate]] in [[Chemistry]], discoverer of [[superacids]],<ref>"Today, I consider myself, in Thomas Huxley's terms, an agnostic. I don’t know whether there is a God or creator, or whatever we may call a higher intelligence or being. I don’t know whether there is an ultimate reason for our being or whether there is anything beyond material phenomena. I may doubt these things as a scientist, as we cannot prove them scientifically, but at the same time we also cannot falsify (disprove) them. For the same reasons, I cannot deny God with certainty, which would make me an atheist. This is a conclusion reached by many scientists." George Olah, A Life of Magic Chemistry</ref>
*[[Mark Oliphant]] (1901–2000): Australian physicist and humanitarian. He played a fundamental role in the first experimental demonstration of [[nuclear fusion]] and also the development of the [[atomic bomb]].<ref>"It was nice to be honoured but I like ‘Mark’ not ‘Sir Mark’. When one’s young, one’s brash and all-knowing; when one’s old, one realises how little one knows. You asked me earlier if I believed in God and the hereafter. I would tend to say no but when one dies one could well be surprised." Mark Oliphant from an interview in 1996., [http://www.mickjoffe.com/Sir_Mark_Oliphant Sir Mark Oliphant - Reluctant Builder of the Atom Bomb].</ref>
*[[Mark Oliphant]] (1901–2000): Australian physicist and humanitarian. He played a fundamental role in the first experimental demonstration of [[nuclear fusion]] and also the development of the [[atomic bomb]].<ref>"It was nice to be honoured but I like ‘Mark’ not ‘Sir Mark’. When one’s young, one’s brash and all-knowing; when one’s old, one realises how little one knows. You asked me earlier if I believed in God and the hereafter. I would tend to say no but when one dies one could well be surprised." Mark Oliphant from an interview in 1996., [http://www.mickjoffe.com/Sir_Mark_Oliphant Sir Mark Oliphant - Reluctant Builder of the Atom Bomb].</ref>
*[[Saul Perlmutter]] (born 1959), American astrophysicist. He shared both the 2006 [[Shaw Prize]] in Astronomy and the 2011 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] with [[Brian P. Schmidt]] and [[Adam Riess]] for providing evidence that the expansion of the universe is accelerating.<ref>{{cite web|title=Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch annotation_id=annotation_125833&feature=iv&src_vid=s47ArcQL-XQ&v=6Gt4WSK_NlQ|accessdate=11 May 2012|author=JPararajasingham}}</ref>
*[[Siméon Denis Poisson]] (1781–1840), French mathematician, geometer, and physicist.<ref>
*[[Siméon Denis Poisson]] (1781–1840), French mathematician, geometer, and physicist.<ref>
"Now Ibn al-Haytham was a devout Muslim – that is, he was a supernaturalist. He studied science because he considered that by doing this he could better understand the nature of the god that he believed in – he thought that a supernatural agent had created the laws of nature. The same is true of virtually all the leading scientists in the Western world, such as Galileo and Newton, who lived after al-Haytham, until about the middle of the twentieth century. There were a few exceptions – Pierre Laplace, Simeon Poisson, Albert Einstein, Paul Dirac and Marie Curie were naturalists for example." John Ellis, ''How Science Works: Evolution: A Student Primer'', page 13.</ref>
"Now Ibn al-Haytham was a devout Muslim – that is, he was a supernaturalist. He studied science because he considered that by doing this he could better understand the nature of the god that he believed in – he thought that a supernatural agent had created the laws of nature. The same is true of virtually all the leading scientists in the Western world, such as Galileo and Newton, who lived after al-Haytham, until about the middle of the twentieth century. There were a few exceptions – Pierre Laplace, Simeon Poisson, Albert Einstein, Paul Dirac and Marie Curie were naturalists for example." John Ellis, ''How Science Works: Evolution: A Student Primer'', page 13.</ref>
*[[Carolyn Porco]] (born 1953), American planetary scientist. She is best known for her work in the exploration of the outer [[solar system]], beginning with her imaging work on the Voyager missions to [[Jupiter]], [[Saturn]], [[Uranus]] and [[Neptune]] in the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch annotation_id=annotation_125833&feature=iv&src_vid=s47ArcQL-XQ&v=6Gt4WSK_NlQ|accessdate=11 May 2012|author=JPararajasingham}}</ref>
*[[Vilayanur S. Ramachandran]] (born 1951), Indian-American neuroscientist. Best known for his work in the fields of [[behavioral neurology]] and visual [[psychophysics]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.celebatheists.com/wiki/Vilayanur_S._Ramachandran|publisher=BBC Radio 4|accessdate=12 May 2012|quote=Like most scientists I'm agnostic. If you're talking about God in some very abstract sense, like in India the Dance of Shiva or in the Spinoza sense of the word God, then I'll say I have no problem with it. But if you're talking about an old guy there who's watching me and making sure I behave myself and that I pray to him every day and that I will be punished in Hell if I do something wrong, I don't believe in that. And I don't want to offend anybody here, but that's my personal view.}}</ref>
*[[Grote Reber]] (1911–2002), American [[amateur astronomer]] and pioneer of [[radio astronomy]]. He was instrumental in investigating and extending [[Karl Jansky]]'s pioneering work, and conducted the first [[sky survey]] in the radio frequencies. His 1937 radio antenna was the second ever to be used for astronomical purposes and the first parabolic reflecting antenna to be used as a "[[radio telescope]]".<ref>"I submit that Hubble was looking for this principle of tired light. A hundred years from now, people will look back on the Big Bang Creationists and their antics with laughter much as we laugh at those who argued over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin!" Grote Reber,[http://www.21stcenturysciencetech.com/Articles_2011/BigBang_Bunk.pdf The Big Bang is Bunk], page 49.</ref><ref>Listed as an agnostic on NNDB.com. [http://www.nndb.com/people/090/000172571/ Grote Reber], ''NNDB.com''</ref>
*[[Grote Reber]] (1911–2002), American [[amateur astronomer]] and pioneer of [[radio astronomy]]. He was instrumental in investigating and extending [[Karl Jansky]]'s pioneering work, and conducted the first [[sky survey]] in the radio frequencies. His 1937 radio antenna was the second ever to be used for astronomical purposes and the first parabolic reflecting antenna to be used as a "[[radio telescope]]".<ref>"I submit that Hubble was looking for this principle of tired light. A hundred years from now, people will look back on the Big Bang Creationists and their antics with laughter much as we laugh at those who argued over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin!" Grote Reber,[http://www.21stcenturysciencetech.com/Articles_2011/BigBang_Bunk.pdf The Big Bang is Bunk], page 49.</ref><ref>Listed as an agnostic on NNDB.com. [http://www.nndb.com/people/090/000172571/ Grote Reber], ''NNDB.com''</ref>
*[[Robert Coleman Richardson]] (born 1937), American experimental physicist. He, along with [[David Lee (physicist)|David Lee]], as senior researchers, and then graduate student [[Douglas Osheroff]], shared the 1996 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] for their 1972 discovery of the property of [[superfluid]]ity in helium-3 atoms in the [[Cornell University]] Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics.<ref>{{cite web|title=Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_125833&feature=iv&src_vid=s47ArcQL-XQ&v=6Gt4WSK_NlQ|accessdate=11 May 2012|author=JPararajasingham}}</ref>
*[[Robert Coleman Richardson]] (born 1937), American experimental physicist. He, along with [[David Lee (physicist)|David Lee]], as senior researchers, and then graduate student [[Douglas Osheroff]], shared the 1996 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] for their 1972 discovery of the property of [[superfluid]]ity in helium-3 atoms in the [[Cornell University]] Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics.<ref>{{cite web|title=50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s47ArcQL-XQ|publisher=JPararajasingham|accessdate=12 May 2012}}</ref>
*[[Charles Richet]] (1850–1935), French physiologist. He won the 1913 [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] for his work on [[anaphylaxis]].<ref>
*[[Charles Richet]] (1850–1935), French physiologist. He won the 1913 [[Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine]] for his work on [[anaphylaxis]].<ref>
"Eugenie Richet was a highly religious woman; Charles made his first communion with real devotion and fleetingly promised to enter the priesthood, but he abandoned his childhood faith during his adolescence. As an adult, he became an agnostic, a freethinker and a Freemason, who was nonetheless fairly tolerant of his wife Amelie's continued faith." Mark S. Micale, ''The mind of modernism: medicine, psychology, and the cultural arts in Europe and America, 1880-1940'' (2004), page 220.</ref>
"Eugenie Richet was a highly religious woman; Charles made his first communion with real devotion and fleetingly promised to enter the priesthood, but he abandoned his childhood faith during his adolescence. As an adult, he became an agnostic, a freethinker and a Freemason, who was nonetheless fairly tolerant of his wife Amelie's continued faith." Mark S. Micale, ''The mind of modernism: medicine, psychology, and the cultural arts in Europe and America, 1880-1940'' (2004), page 220.</ref>
Line 322: Line 329:
*[[Stanislaw Ulam]] (1909–1984), Polish-Jewish mathematician. He participated in America's [[Manhattan Project]], originated the [[Teller–Ulam design]] of thermonuclear weapons, invented the Monte Carlo method of computation, and suggested [[nuclear pulse propulsion]].<ref>
*[[Stanislaw Ulam]] (1909–1984), Polish-Jewish mathematician. He participated in America's [[Manhattan Project]], originated the [[Teller–Ulam design]] of thermonuclear weapons, invented the Monte Carlo method of computation, and suggested [[nuclear pulse propulsion]].<ref>
""I'm an agnostic. Sometimes I muse deeply on the forces that are for me invisible. When I am almost close to the idea of God, I feel immediately estranged by the horrors of this world, which he seems to tolerate..." Later Ulam expressed his opinions about matters that have very little in common with science." Polska Agencja Międzyprasowa, ''Poland: Issue 9'' (1976).</ref>
""I'm an agnostic. Sometimes I muse deeply on the forces that are for me invisible. When I am almost close to the idea of God, I feel immediately estranged by the horrors of this world, which he seems to tolerate..." Later Ulam expressed his opinions about matters that have very little in common with science." Polska Agencja Międzyprasowa, ''Poland: Issue 9'' (1976).</ref>
*[[Martinus J. G. Veltman]] (born 1931), Dutch theoretical physicist. He shared the 1999 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] with his former student [[Gerardus 't Hooft]] for their work on particle theory.<ref>{{cite web|title=Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_125833&feature=iv&src_vid=s47ArcQL-XQ&v=6Gt4WSK_NlQ|accessdate=11 May 2012|author=JPararajasingham}}</ref>
*[[Martinus J. G. Veltman]] (born 1931), Dutch theoretical physicist. He shared the 1999 [[Nobel Prize in Physics]] with his former student [[Gerardus 't Hooft]] for their work on particle theory.<ref>{{cite web|title=50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s47ArcQL-XQ|publisher=JPararajasingham|accessdate=12 May 2012}}</ref>
*[[Rudolf Virchow]] (1821–1902), German doctor, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist and politician. Referred to as "the father of modern pathology," he is considered one of the founders of [[social medicine]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The scientific 100: a rankings of the most influential scientists, past and present|year=1996|publisher=Carol Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-8065-1749-0|author=John Simmons|page=90|quote=For his abrasive antiroyalist as well as agnostic views, Virchow was made to suffer in the subsequent period of political reaction; his meager salary was cut off and he was effectively dismissed from Charite.}}</ref><ref>"Virchow had no use for teleology in pathology: "The teleo-logical purists were always forced to go back to original sin,* without finding this way much recognition." We found Virchow to be an agnostic as early as 1845." Erwin Heinz Ackerknecht, ''Rudolf Virchow: doctor, statesman, anthropologist'' (1953), page 51.</ref>
*[[Rudolf Virchow]] (1821–1902), German doctor, anthropologist, pathologist, prehistorian, biologist and politician. Referred to as "the father of modern pathology," he is considered one of the founders of [[social medicine]].<ref>{{cite book|title=The scientific 100: a rankings of the most influential scientists, past and present|year=1996|publisher=Carol Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-8065-1749-0|author=John Simmons|page=90|quote=For his abrasive antiroyalist as well as agnostic views, Virchow was made to suffer in the subsequent period of political reaction; his meager salary was cut off and he was effectively dismissed from Charite.}}</ref><ref>"Virchow had no use for teleology in pathology: "The teleo-logical purists were always forced to go back to original sin,* without finding this way much recognition." We found Virchow to be an agnostic as early as 1845." Erwin Heinz Ackerknecht, ''Rudolf Virchow: doctor, statesman, anthropologist'' (1953), page 51.</ref>
*[[André Weil]] (1906–1998), French mathematician. He is especially known for his foundational work in [[number theory]] and [[algebraic geometry]].<ref>"Andre Weil was an agnostic but respected religions." I. Grattan-Guinness, Bhuri Singh Yadav, ''History of the Mathematical Sciences'' (2004).</ref>
*[[André Weil]] (1906–1998), French mathematician. He is especially known for his foundational work in [[number theory]] and [[algebraic geometry]].<ref>"Andre Weil was an agnostic but respected religions." I. Grattan-Guinness, Bhuri Singh Yadav, ''History of the Mathematical Sciences'' (2004).</ref>

Revision as of 22:56, 12 May 2012

Borges
DuBois
Kafka
Korczak
Pushkin
Dunant
Anno
Bergman
File:Benjamin Britten-Karsh.jpg
Britten
File:Henry fonda promo photo.jpg
Fonda
Gaiman
Mahler

Listed here are persons who have identified themselves as agnostic. Also included are individuals who have expressed the view that the veracity of god's existence is unknown or inherently unknowable.

List

Epicurus
Kant
File:DaodeTianzun.jpg
Laozi
Russell
Darrow
Ingersoll
Bell
Curie
Darwin
Einstein
Fermi
Florey
Franklin
Hilbert
Thomas Huxley, coiner of the term agnostic.
Lagrange
Michelson
Rotblat
Sagan
Tyson
Wiener
Zuse

Authors

"Being an agnostic means all things are possible, even God, even the Holy Trinity. This world is so strange that anything may happen, or may not happen. Being an agnostic makes me live in a larger, a more fantastic kind of world, almost uncanny. It makes me more tolerant."
"Most students ... wish to know whether I believe in the existence of God or in immortality, and if so why. They regard it impossible to leave these matters unsettled – or at least extremely detrimental to religion not to have the basis of such conviction. Now for my part I do not find it impossible to leave them open.... I can describe myself as no ardent theist or atheist."

Business

Media, arts

Philosophy

  • Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997), British social and political theorist, philosopher and historian of ideas of Russian-Jewish origin, thought by many to be the dominant scholar of his generation.[104]
  • Gautama Buddha (c.563—483 B.C.), A spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded.[105]
  • Noam Chomsky (1928–): American linguist, philosopher, political activist, author, and lecturer, Institute Professor and professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, credited with the creation of the theory of generative grammar.[106][107]
  • Democritus (460 BC–370 BC), Ancient Greek philosopher. He was an influential pre-Socratic philosopher and pupil of Leucippus, who formulated an atomic theory for the cosmos.[108]
  • John Dewey (1859–1952), American philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer. His ideas have been influential in education and social reform.[109]
  • Epicurus (341 BCE–270 BCE), Ancient Greek philosopher and the founder of the school of philosophy called Epicureanism.[110]
  • Fred Edwords (born 1948), longtime Humanist activist, currently national director of the United Coalition of Reason.[111]
  • James Hall (born 1933) describes himself as an agnostic episcopalian. He says that he finds great beauty in the religious tradition, but is reluctant to "sign the dotted line" and agreeing with all theological doctrines.[112]
  • Sidney Hook (1902–1989), American philosopher of the Pragmatist school known for his contributions to the philosophy of history, the philosophy of education, political theory, and ethics.[113]
  • Harold Innis (1894-1952), Canadian political philosopher and professor of political economy at the University of Toronto and the author of seminal works on media, communication theory and Canadian economic history.[114]
  • William James (1842–1910), American psychologist and philosopher. He wrote influential books on the young science of psychology, educational psychology, psychology of religious experience and mysticism, and on the philosophy of pragmatism.[115]
  • Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), German philosopher. Best known for his work, Critique of Pure Reason.[116]
  • Anthony Kenny (born 1931), president of Royal Institute of Philosophy, wrote in his essay Why I'm not an atheist after justifying his agnostic position that "a claim to knowledge needs to be substantiated; ignorance need only be confessed."[117]
  • Laozi (604 BC?-???), Chinese philosopher. Best known as the author of the Tao Te Ching. His association with the Tao Te Ching has led him to be traditionally considered the founder of philosophical Taoism.[118]
  • G. E. Moore (1873-1958), English philosopher. He was, with Bertrand Russell, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and (before them) Gottlob Frege, one of the founders of the analytic tradition in philosophy.[119]
  • Karl R. Popper, philosopher of science, who promoted falsifiability as a necessary criterion of empirical statements in science.[120]
  • Protagoras, (died 420 BCE), Greek Sophist and first major Humanist, who wrote that the existence of the gods was unknowable.[121]
  • Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), English philosopher and mathematician, who considered himself a philosophical agnostic, but said that the label "atheist" conveyed a more accurate impression to "the ordinary man in the street".[122]
  • Michael Schmidt-Salomon (born 1967), German philosopher, author and former editor of MIZ (Contemporary Materials and Information: Political magazine for atheists and the irreligious).[123] Schmidt-Salomon has specified that he is not a "pure atheist, but actually an agnostic."[124]
  • Herbert Spencer (1820-1903), English philosopher, biologist, sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist of the Victorian era.
  • Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820—1891), Indian Bengali polymath and a key figure of the Bengal Renaissance.[125]

Politics and law

Science, technology

Celebrities and athletes

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "They were both agnostics, though both set a high associative value on the language in which the traditional religions of their forebears had been expressed, and in conversation and writing were not averse to ironic reference to certain metaphysical concepts." Anthony Cronin, Samuel Beckett: the last modernist (1999), page 90.
  2. ^ "Contrary to McWilliams's claim, however, in the public arena Bierce was not merely an agnostic but a staunch unbeliever regarding the question of Jesus' divinity." Donald T. Blume, Ambrose Bierce's Civilians and soldiers in context: a critical study, page 323.
  3. ^ I. Shenker (1971-04-06). "Borges, a Blind Writer With Insight". New York Times.
  4. ^ Henry Cadbury, "My Personal Religion", republished on the Quaker Universalist Fellowship website.
  5. ^ David Simpson writes that Camus affirmed "a defiantly atheistic creed." Albert Camus (1913–1960), The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2006, (Accessed June 14, 2007).
  6. ^ Haught, James A. (1996). 2,000 Years of Disbelief: Famous People with the Courage to Doubt. Prometheus Books. pp. 261–262. ISBN 1-57392-067-3.
  7. ^ "I have recently argued that this linguistic indeterminacy, or as J. Hillis Miller terms it, undecidability, places Carlyle as a perhaps unwilling and yet important contributor to the upsurge of an anti- religious agnosticism that would set in motion the demise of orthodox belief both prophesied and dreaded by Nietzsche." Paul E. Kerry, Marylu Hill, Thomas Carlyle Resartus: Reappraising Carlye's Contribution to the Philosophy of History, Political Theory, and Cultural Criticism (2010), page 69.
  8. ^ Sophia A. McClennen (2009). Ariel Dorfman: An Aesthetics of Hope. Duke University Press. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-8223-4604-3. Dorfman is a confirmed agnostic and it would be a mistake to ascribe too close an affinity between him and Jeremiah. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  9. ^ "To be clear, in all the annals of American and African American history, one will probably not find another agnostic as preoccupied with and as familiar with so much biblical, religious, and spiritual rhetoric as WEB Du Bois." Brian Johnson, W.E.B. Du Bois: Toward Agnosticism, 1868-1934, page 3.
  10. ^ "Q&A: Bart Ehrman: Misquoting Jesus". Retrieved 2007-05-31. [dead link]
  11. ^ V.Bernet (2008-04-23). "Agnostic's questions have biblical answers". Kansas City Star. In the church of his youth in Lawrence, Kansas, with nearly every pew at capacity last week, Bart D. Ehrman, chairman of the department of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, announced that he was an agnostic. He joked that atheists think agnostics are wimpy atheists and that agnostics think atheists are arrogant agnostics.
  12. ^ David G. Riede (2005). Allegories Of One's Own Mind: Melancholy In Victorian Poetry. Ohio State University Press. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-8142-1008-6. Unlike Tennyson and the Brownings, however, Fitzgerald was an agnostic, and consequently he lacked the strong sense of conscience and duty that might have disciplined and given shape to his anomic imagination. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  13. ^ "To be sure, when she wrote her groundbreaking book, Friedan considered herself an "agnostic" Jew, unaffiliated with any religious branch or institution." Kirsten Fermaglich, American Dreams and Nazi Nightmares: Early Holocaust Consciousness and Liberal America, 1957-1965 (2007), page 59.
  14. ^ S.Winchester (2003). The Meaning of Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. ISBN ISBN 0-19-860702-4. [...] Furnivall was a deeply committed socialist and (until his later agnosticism set in), a somewhat enthusiastic Christian [...] {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help)
  15. ^ "...Gorky - a religious agnostic praised as a social realist by the communist regime during the demise of imperial Russia..." James Redmond, Drama and Philosophy, page 161.
  16. ^ "Gorky had long rejected all organized religions. Yet he was not a materialist, and thus he could not be satisfied with Marx's ideas on religion. When asked to express his views about religion in a questionnaire sent by the French journal Mercure de France on April 15, 1907, Gorky replied that he was opposed to the existing religions of Moses, Christ, and Mohammed. He defined religious feeling as an awareness of a harmonious link that joins man to the universe and as an aspiration for synthesis, inherent in every individual." Tova Yedlin, Maxim Gorky: A Political Biography, page 86.
  17. ^ "Also Iran's most famous modern writer, Sadegh Hedayat, who was an agnostic and antireligious activist, did much to introduce the new skeptical view of Khayyam among modernized Persians to the extent that some by mistake think of him as the founder of Khayyam studies in Iran." Seyyed Hossein Nasr. Islamic Philosophy from Its Origin to the Present: Philosophy in the Land of Prophecy (Suny Series in Islam) Pages 166-167.
  18. ^ Harold Bloom, ed. (2003). Aldous Huxley. Infobase Publishing. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-7910-7040-6. As late as 1962 he wrote to Reid Gardner, "I remain an agnostic who aspires to be a gnostic" (Letters 935). {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  19. ^ During an interview on his book The Year of Living Biblically with George Stroumboulopoulos on the CBC Program 'The Hour' Jacobs states "I'm still an agnostic, I don't know whether there's a god."[1]
  20. ^ "Neither Joyce's agnosticism nor his sexual libertinism were known to his mentors at Belvedere and he remained to the end a Prefect of the Sodality of Mary." Bruce Stewart, James Joyce (2007), page 14.
  21. ^ "Kafka did not look at writing as a “gift” in the traditional sense. If anything, he considered both his talent for writing and what he produced as a writer curses for some unknown sin. Since Kafka was agnostic or even an atheist, it is best to assume his sense of sin and curse were metaphors." Franz Kafka - The Absurdity of Everything, Tameri.com.
  22. ^ "Kafka was also alienated from his own heritage by his parent's perfunctory religious practice and minimal social formality in the Jewish community, though his style and influence is sometimes attributed to Jewish folk lore. Kafka eventually declared himself a socialist atheist, Spinoza, Darwin and Nietzsche some of his influences." C.D. Merriman, Franz Kafka.
  23. ^ "Keats shared Hunt's dislike of institutionalized Christianity, parsons, and the Christian belief in man's innate corruption, but, as an unassertive agnostic, held well short of Shelley's avowed atheism." John Barnard, John Keats, pages 38-39.
  24. ^ Janusz Korczak (1978). Ghetto diary. Holocaust Library. You know I am an agnostic, but I understood: Pedagogy, tolerance, and all that. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  25. ^ The Month, Volume 39. Simpkin, Marshall, and Company. 1968. p. 350. When Dr. Janusz Korczak, a Jewish philanthropist and agnostic, voluntarily chooses to follow the Jewish orphans under his care to the Nazi extermination camp in Treblinka... {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  26. ^ "Lucretius did not deny the existence of gods either, but he felt that human ideas about gods combined with the fear of death to make human beings unhappy. He followed the same materialist lines as Epicurus, and by denying that the gods had any way of influencing our world he said that humankind had no need to fear the supernatural." Ancient Atheists. BBC.co.uk.
  27. ^ Markose Abraham (2011). American Immigration Aesthetics: Bernard Malamud and Bharati Mukherjee As Immigrants. AuthorHouse. p. 146. ISBN 978-1-4567-8243-6. An agnostic humanist, Malamud has unflinching faith in man's ability to choose and make "his own world" from the "usable past". {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  28. ^ "When asked what he would do if on his death he found himself facing the twelve apostles, the agnostic Mencken answered, "I would simply say, 'Gentlemen, I was mistaken.'"" American Experience; Monkey Trial; People & Events: The Jazz Age, PBS Online, 1999-2001. Retrieved 28 July 2007.
  29. ^ "Nabokov is a self-affirmed agnostic in matters religious, political, and philosophical." Donald E. Morton, Vladimir Nabokov (1974), page 8.
  30. ^ "O'Neill, an agnostic and an anarchist, maintained little hope in religion or politics and saw institutions not serving to preserve liberty but standing in the way of the birth of true freedom." John P. Diggins, Eugene O'Neill's America: desire under democracy (2007), page 130.
  31. ^ "The religion of Larry Niven, science fiction author". Adherents.com. July 28, 2005. Retrieved September 27, 2011.
  32. ^ "Marcel Proust was the son of a Christian father and a Jewish mother. He himself was baptized (on August 5, 1871, at the church of Saint-Louis d'Antin) and later confirmed as a Catholic, but he never practiced that faith and as an adult could best be described as a mystical atheist, someone imbued with spirituality who nonetheless did not believe in a personal God, much less in a savior." Edmund White, Marcel Proust: A Life (2009).
  33. ^ Finch, Alison. The Oxford Companion to French Literature: Marcel Proust. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-866104-7. Proust's mother was Jewish; he and his younger brother were brought up as Catholics. He no doubt grew up with an awareness of the diversity of religious and cultural traditions; this awareness is part of what gives A la recherche du temps perdu its breadth. The adult Proust seems to have been an atheist or agnostic (albeit one with a keen sense of awe and mystery); certainly his mature work shows, in religious and other areas, a scepticism by turns quizzical or delighted or anguished. Such scepticism has been part of the French literary tradition for centuries, but Proust was to foreground it in a particularly modern mode.
  34. ^ David M. Bethea (1998). Realizing Metaphors: Alexander Pushkin and the Life of the Poet. Univ of Wisconsin Press. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-299-15974-0. For Pushkin himself was agnostic, in the sense that, exquisitely perched between paganism and Orthodoxy, violence and civilization, east and west, he would have loved to believe, but he felt too attached to this world, too fascinated by it, to come to rest in any stance other than the simultaneously exhilarating and wearying stand-in-relation-to. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  35. ^ Edward Said: A Legacy of Emancipation and Representation. University of California Press. 2010. ISBN 978-0-520-24546-4. Said was of Christian background, a confirmed agnostic, perhaps even an atheist, yet he had a rage for justice and a moral sensibility lacking in most believers. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  36. ^ "Ricketts did not convert his friend to a religious point of view — Steinbeck remained an agnostic and, essentially, a materialist — but Ricketts's religious acceptance did tend to work on his friend,..." Jackson J. Benson, The true adventures of John Steinbeck, writer: a biography (1984), page 248.
  37. ^ "It must be extremely consoling, he admitted, to have faith in religion, yet even for an agnostic, like himself, life held many beautiful realities - the art of Raphael or Titian, the prose of Voltaire and the poetry of Byron in Don Juan." F. C. Green, Stendhal (2011), page 200.
  38. ^ CBC News reports that Templeton "eventually abandoned the pulpit and became an agnostic." Journalist, evangelist Charles Templeton dies
  39. ^ "For example, Leonard Schapiro, Turgenev, His Life and Times (New York: Random, 1978) 214, writes about Turgenev's agnosticism as follows: "Turgenev was not a determined atheist; there is ample evidence which shows that he was an agnostic who would have been happy to embrace the consolations of religion, but was, except perhaps on some rare occasions, unable to do so"; and Edgar Lehrman, Turgenev's Letters (New York: Knopf, 1961) xi, presents still another interpretation for Turgenev's lack of religion, suggesting literature as a possible substitution: "Sometimes Turgenev's attitude toward literature makes us wonder whether, for him, literature was not a surrogate religion - something in which he could believe unhesitatingly, unreservedly, and enthusiastically, something that somehow would make man in general and Turgenev in particular a little happier."" Harold Bloom, Ivan Turgenev, pages 95-96.
  40. ^ "In one of our walks about Hartford, when he was in the first fine flush of his agnosticism, he declared that Christianity had done nothing to improve morals and conditions..." William Dean Howells, My Mark Twain [2].
  41. ^ "William Dean Howells and Mark Twain had much in common. They were agnostic but compassionate of the plight of man in an indifferent world..." Darrel Abel (2002), Classic Authors of the Gilded Age, iUniverse, ISBN 0-595-23497-6
  42. ^ "At the most, Mark Twain was a mild agnostic, usually he seems to have been an amused Deist. Yet, at this late date his own daughter has refused to allow his comments on religion to be published." Kenneth Rexroth, "Humor in a Tough Age;" The Nation, March 7, 1959. [3]
  43. ^ "Warraq, 60, describes himself now as an agnostic..." Dissident voices, World Magazine, June 16, 2007, Vol. 22, No. 22.
  44. ^ Wiesel, Elie (2000). And the Sea Is Never Full: Memoirs, 1969-. Random House Digital, Inc. ISBN 978-0-8052-1029-3. Some of the questions: God? "I'm an agnostic." A strange agnostic, fascinated by mysticism.
  45. ^ Wilson explains that he is agnostic about everything in the preface to his book Cosmic Trigger.
  46. ^ "biography of David Yallop". True Knowledge BETA - The Internet Answer Engine. True Knowledge. 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  47. ^ The Herald, "Why did this "saint" fail to act on sinners within his flock?", Anne Simpson, May 26, 2007
  48. ^ Evenhuis, Anthony (1998). Messiah Or Antichrist?: A Study of the Messianic Myth in the Work of Zola. University of Delaware Press. ISBN 978-0-87413-634-0. Given Emile Zola's reputation as an agnostic and a radical thinker, he has often been avoided by scholars with a religious background.
  49. ^ Faces of the New Atheism: The Scribe, by Nicholas Thompson, Wired Magazine, Issue 14.11, November 2006 (Accessed 30 November 2006).
  50. ^ "The first Nobel Peace Prize went, in 1901, to Henri Dunant. Dunant was the founder of the Red Cross, but he could not become its first elective head-so it is widely believed- because of his agnostic views." Oscar Riddle, The Unleashing of Evolutionary Thought (2007), page 343.
  51. ^ "Devoutly Calvinist for most of his life, but became bitter and disdainful toward religion in his latter years." NNDB.com, Henry Dunant.
  52. ^ On his religious beliefs: ANNO: "I don't belong to any kind of organized religion, so I guess I could be considered agnostic. Japanese spiritualism holds that there is kami (spirit) in everything, and that's closer to my own beliefs." Anno's Roundtable Discussion.
  53. ^ [4]
  54. ^ "The oh-so-Jewy-looking Baruchel is a quarter Jewish, at least half Catholic, exposed to both religions, but now agnostic." JewOrNotJew.com, February 7, 2011. [5]
  55. ^ Interview with Penn Jillette in which he mentions his agnosticism.
  56. ^ Raphael Shargel (2007). Ingmar Bergman: Interviews. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 174. ISBN 978-1-57806-218-8. A religious reconciliation, for example, appears unlikely for Mr. Bergman, an agnostic. "I hope I never get so old I get religious," he said. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  57. ^ ""God Bless America," a favorite song of believers, was written by Irving Berlin. It now turns out that Berlin was an agnostic. In Freethought Today (Madison, Wisconsin, Freedom From Religion Foundation, May 2004) Dan Barker documents that Berlin, the son of a Jewish cantor, was an agnostic, that "patriotism was his religion."" Warren Allen Smith, Gossip from Across the Pond: Articles Published in the United Kingdom's Gay and Lesbian Humanist, 1996-2005, page 106.
  58. ^ INTERVIEW: Padre, Padre: Mexico's Native Son Gael Garcia Bernal Stars in the Controversial "The Crime of Father Amaro"
  59. ^ "His life partner, Peter Pears, would describe Britten as “an agnostic with a great love for Jesus Christ." Benjamin Britten (1913 – 1976)
  60. ^ "In place of the Frenchman's unquestioning faith, for example, there was Britten's agnosticism; and in contrast to the uxorious Messiaen, Britten was a homosexual: this, at a time when homosexual practices were still illegal in the United Kingdom." Andrew Ford, Illegal Harmonies: Music in the Modern Age, page 77.
  61. ^ "Actress Rose Byrne on ‘Knowing’ Religion & the End of the World" in BBook.com: [6] "Yeah, I'd say I'm agnostic".
  62. ^ "Arnold Dobrin similarly reported, "Aaron Copland has not followed the religion of his parents. He is an agnostic but one who is deeply aware of the grandeur and mystery of the universe."" Howard Pollack, Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man, page 28.
  63. ^ Nicholas Ballasy (January 27, 2011). "Actor Richard Dreyfuss: 'If There's a God,' Politically Uncivil 'Guys Are in Trouble'". Retrieved 28 April 2012. "But I'm an agnostic," Dreyfuss added. "I'm willing to be surprised, but I'm an agnostic. But if there's a God and he's morally involved in our affairs, those guys are in trouble."
  64. ^ Zac Efron & Nikki Blonsky's Secret Off Screen Romance? By Tina Sims, The National Ledger, August 1, 2007 (Retrieved 25 March 2008)
  65. ^ "I was raised agnostic, so we never practiced religion..." "Zac Efron - the new American hearthrob", Strauss, Neil Rolling Stone, August 23, 2007, p. 43.
  66. ^ Smith, Warren Allen (October 25, 2000). Who's Who in Hell. Barricade Books. ISBN 1-56980-158-4. I would describe myself as an enthusiastic agnostic who would be happy to be shown that there is a God.
  67. ^ "Henry Fonda claims to be an agnostic. Not an atheist but a doubter." Howard Teichmann, Fonda: My Life, page 303.
  68. ^ In response to the question "Do you believe in God?", Fox said "I would love to, but I wonder sometimes what he believes in. Religion seems to have been created by man to help and guide humankind. I've no idea, really.""Analyse this: Inside the mind of actress Emilia Fox". iconocast.com.
  69. ^ Neil Gaiman (January 1989). Neil Gaiman interviewed by Steve Whitaker. FA #109. pp. 24–29. I think we can say that God exists in the DC Universe. I would not stand up and beat the drum for the existence of God in this universe. I don't know, I think there's probably a 50/50 chance. It doesn't really matter to me. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  70. ^ Astor, Michael (2007-03-16). "Brazilian pop star Gil tours U.S." Associated Press via USA Today. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Gannett Company. Retrieved 2008-05-17.
  71. ^ See "Sidelines" section of Free Inquiry magazine, Volume 19, Number 3, which references a quote from New York Times Magazine, 12-27-98.
  72. ^ "He [Humphrys] went looking for God and ended up an angry agnostic – unable to believe but enraged by the arrogance of militant atheists." In God we doubt, John Humphrys The Sunday Times, September 2, 2007 (Accessed 1 April 2008)
  73. ^ http://books.google.com.mx/books?id=GHanbI1YeDMC&pg=PA47&lpg=PA47&dq=janacek+agnostic&source=bl&ots=3jIiGOYX8t&sig=16e10xATad0O2DdJzhI7C6HDHIw&hl=es&sa=X&ei=np_2Tp6cE4eEsgKgybHhAQ&ved=0CCUQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=janacek%20agnostic&f=false
  74. ^ Yudkoff, Alvin Gene Kelly: A Life of Dance and Dreams, Watson-Guptill Publications: New York, NY (1999) pages 58–59
  75. ^ "When we got married, I said, 'Look, since I'm agnostic, I have no right to tell you not to teach them what you believe. But give them an opening.' So if they ever ask me, I'd tell them the same thing I'm telling you: 'I don't buy that God, I don't know if there's an afterlife.' Pogrebin, Abigail (2005). Stars of David: Prominent Jews Talk About Being Jewish. New York: Broadway. pp. 318–322. ISBN 978-0-7679-1612-7.
  76. ^ Lennox, Annie (December 18, 2010). "Annie Lennox on the Secret History of Christmas Songs". The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones. Retrieved December 24, 2010.
  77. ^ I. Harb and M. Košir (2009-11-20). "Slovenci niso pobijali tjulnjev, ampak sami sebe (Slovenians Didn't Kill Seals, They Killed Each Other - interview with Janez Lapajne)". Delo - priloga Vikend - Lapajne said: "First of all, I do not want to belong to any ideological group, which is probably understandable for an agnostic." ("Najprej, ne želim pripadati nobeni ideološki skupini, kar je za agnostika verjetno razumljivo.").
  78. ^ The Onion: "Is there a God?" Stan Lee: "Well, let me put it this way... [Pauses.] No, I'm not going to try to be clever. I really don't know. I just don't know." Is There A God, The A.V. Club, October 9, 2002.
  79. ^ "The closest word I’ve found to describe [my] belief system is Pantheism, but I could also call myself an agnostic (because I don’t claim to know if my own conception of divinity is ultimately true) or an atheist (because I believe that religions based around personified deities are definitely not true)." — The Universe According to Lynx (June 30, 2007), Soundtrack for Insurrection, circlealpha.com. Retrieved October 21, 2007.
  80. ^ Maher said "I'm not convinced that God exists. But I do allow the possibility. I'm not an atheist. I'm open... My view on spirituality is I don't know. I never will as long as I'm alive. So why waste time dwelling on something I can never know?" See Transcript from Larry King Live - August 11, 2005.
  81. ^ "It is particularly poor salesmanship for Ms. Raabe to cite Mahler's supposed conversion from Judaism to Catholicism. In both law and common understanding, a choice made under duress is discounted as lacking in free will. Mahler converted as a mere formality under compulsion of a bigoted law that barred Jews from directorship of the Vienna Hofoper. Mahler himself joked about the conversion with his Jewish friends, and, no doubt, would view with bitter amusement the obtuseness of Ms. Raabe's understanding of the cruel choice forced on him: either convert to Christianity or forfeit the professional post for which you are supremely destined. When Mahler was asked why he never composed a Mass, he answered bluntly that he could never, with any degree of artistic or spiritual integrity, voice the Credo. He was a confirmed agnostic, a doubter and seeker, never a soul at rest or at peace." Joel Martel, MAHLER AND RELIGION; Forced to Be Christian, New York Times.
  82. ^ "He was born a Jew but has been described as a life-long agnostic. At one point he converted to Catholicism, purely for the purpose of obtaining a job that he coveted -- director of the Court Opera of Vienna. It was unthinkable for a Jew to hold such a prestigious position, hence the utilitarian conversion to the state religion." Warren Allen Smith, Celebrities in Hell, pages 76-77.
  83. ^ "'It would be safe to say that I'm agnostic,' Matthews says. 'However, I do feel as though we owe a faith to the world and to ourselves. We owe a grace and gratitude to things that have brought us here. But I think it's very ignorant to say, 'Well, for everything, God has a plan.' That's like an excuse. ... Maybe the real faithful act is to commit to something, to take action, as opposed to saying, 'Well, everything is in the hand of God.'" See Boston Globe Article 'Dave Matthews Gets Serious - and Playful' by Steve Morse (March 4, 2001)
  84. ^ "If you say ‘there is no God,’ where is evidence there is no God? You can say ‘I don’t know.’ Being an agnostic to me is a scientific point of view, which is supportable. In my experience, I felt at times that there is a God of some kind. I don’t subscribe to any organized religion – that’s a different matter. But if there is a God, we have very little idea of what that God may be. That’s inherent in what we are,” he said." - Brian May, RT.com, 26 July 2011.
  85. ^ Edvard Munch: symbols & images, Volume 1978, Part 2. National Gallery of Art. 1978. p. 237. But Munch was not completely averse to every form of religion; one might rather say that throughout his life he remained a thoughtful agnostic. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  86. ^ Oberst said: "If I’m forced to categorize myself I guess I’d say I was an agnostic." Conor Oberst and Bright Eyes: Bright Ideas, by A. D. Amorosi, Harp magazine, May 2007. (Retrieved 15 October 2007)
  87. ^ "I'm a linear thinking agnostic, but not an atheist folks." Peart, Neil (1996). The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa. ISBN 1-55022-667-3.
  88. ^ When asked whether he believed in God, he replied: "I generally am wary of the black and white veering more towards the grey with regard to these matters but am closer to atheism when push comes to shove in terms of not believing the extravagant claims of theology. After all "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" - Carl Sagan If the following definition of an atheist is correct then I would certainly nail my flag to that mast! :o) "An atheist is a man who has no invisible means of support." - John Buchan" Brendan believe in God or something??.
  89. ^ "BILD: Do you believe in God? Brad Pitt (smiling): 'No, no, no!' BILD: Is your soul spiritual? Brad Pitt: 'No, no, no! I’m probably 20 per cent atheist and 80 per cent agnostic. I don’t think anyone really knows. You'll either find out or not when you get there, until then there's no point thinking about it.'" Brad Pitt interview: "With six kids each morning it is about surviving!" By Norbert Körzdörfer, Bild.com, 23 July 2009
  90. ^ Sidney Poitier (2009). Life Beyond Measure: Letters to My Great-Granddaughter. HarperCollins. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-06-149620-2. I perceive God, in the event that He is there—and I have to constantly underscore the possibility that God does exist—as not in the form in which we have been encouraged to believe He exists. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  91. ^ Rooney wrote: "I call myself an agnostic, not an atheist, because in one sense atheists are like Christians or Muslims. They’re sure of themselves. A Christian says with certainty, there is a god; an atheist says with certainty, there is no god. Neither knows" Sincerely, Andy Rooney (2001), Public Affairs ISBN 1-58648-045-6
  92. ^ Rooney said: "Why am I an atheist? I ask you: Why is anybody not an atheist? Everyone starts out being an atheist. No one is born with belief in anything. Infants are atheists until they are indoctrinated. I resent anyone pushing their religion on me. I don't push my atheism on anybody else. Live and let live. Not many people practice that when it comes to religion." Marian Christy, "Conversations: We make our own destiny", Boston Globe, 30 May 1982 (from Newsbank).
  93. ^ Rooney said: "I am an atheist... I don't understand religion at all. I'm sure I'll offend a lot of people by saying this, but I think it's all nonsense." From a speech at Tufts University, 18 November 2004.
  94. ^ Elizabeth Norman McKay (1996). Franz Schubert: a biography. Clarendon Press. p. 308. ISBN 978-0-19-816523-1. ...quite what he expected: no doubt on account of both his agnosticism and his lack of money or sure prospects... {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  95. ^ Adrienne Shelly said: "I'm an optimistic agnostic. I'd like to believe." Rhys, Tim (August 1996), Suddenly Adrienne Shelly, MovieMaker Magazine. Accessed February 12, 2007.
  96. ^ "I know intellectually there is no god. But in case there is, I don’t want to piss him off by saying it." Howard Stern, Interview w/ Steppin’ Out, May 21, 2004.
  97. ^ "I am an agnostic and I was interested in reading the pre-Christian idea that winter is more about regeneration than salvation. I stayed away from that triumphal, 'God is in his heaven, isn't everything wonderful?' kind of thing."[7]
  98. ^ Stone said "...I'm Jewish simply because... my mom is Jewish... but... I grew up completely secular and completely agnostic... I am the worst Jew in the world. I know nothing about the religion. I'm completely agnostic (my poor mother)." 'South Park' Creator Matt Stone on Fighting Terrorism on NPR's program Fresh Air, 14 October 2004, (quote begins at 15:05, ends at 16:00)
  99. ^ When asked if there was a God, Stone answered "No." Is there a God?, by Stephen Thompson, The Onion A.V. Club, October 9, 2002
  100. ^ Bryan Randolph Gilliam (1999). The Life of Richard Strauss. Cambridge University Press. p. 25. ISBN 978-0-521-57895-0. Strauss was agnostic by his mid-teens and he remained so until the end of his life. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  101. ^ Schodt, Frederik L. The Astro Boy Essays. Stone Bridge Press, 2007.
  102. ^ "Here we have a man who, while at Cambridge, was 'a most determined atheist'--those were the words of his fellow-undergraduate Bertrand Russell--and who was dismissed at the age of 25 from his post as organist in a church at South Lambeth because he refused to take Communion. Later, according to his widow, he 'drifted into a cheerful agnosticism'." The Unknown Vaughan Williams, Michael Kennedy, Proceedings of the Royal Musical Association, Vol. 99. (1972–1973), pp. 31-41.
  103. ^ "Mr. Penthouse,seminarian?"
  104. ^ Connie Aarsbergen-Ligtvoet (2006). Isaiah Berlin: A Value Pluralist and Humanist View of Human Nature and the Meaning of Life. Rodopi. p. 133. ISBN 978-90-420-1929-4. The traditional religious strategies of grounding morality are blocked for Berlin. Being an agnostic, brought up in the empiricist tradition, he cannot refer to a holy book. With his Jewish background, he could have referred to the book of Genesis, to the Seven Laws of Noah as applying to the whole of humankind. As an agnostic, however, he needs a secular justification. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  105. ^ "The original Buddhism of Siddhartha Gautama was essentially agnostic, asserting that it is impossible to know whether God exists or what his nature is." Thomas E. Johnson, Life's Three Greatest Questions (2003), page 64.
  106. ^ "Like everyone participating I'm what's called here a "secular atheist," except that I can't even call myself an "atheist" because it is not at all clear what I'm being asked to deny." Noam Chomsky, Edge Discussion of Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival, November 2006 (accessed April 21, 2008).
  107. ^ Chomsky, Noam. "Remarks on Religion". Retrieved 7 April 2012. Do I believe in God? Can't answer, I'm afraid.
  108. ^ "Most histories of atheism choose the Greek and Roman philosophers Epicurus, Democritus, and Lucretius as the first atheist writers. While these writers certainly changed the idea of God, they didn't entirely deny that gods could exist." Ancient Atheists, BBC.co.uk.
  109. ^ "Dewey started his career as a Christian but over his long lifetime moved towards agnosticism. His philosphical writings start out apologetic; over his life he gradually lost interest in formal religion and focused more on democratic ideals. Moreover, he became very devoted to applying the scientific method of inquiry to both democracy and education." Shawn Olson, John Dewey - American Pragmatic Philosopher, 2005.
  110. ^ "Epicurus taught that the soul is also made of material objects, and so when the body dies the soul dies with it. There is no afterlife. Epicurus thought that gods might exist, but if they did, they did not have anything to do with human beings." Ancient Atheists, BBC.co.uk.
  111. ^ "Frederick Edwords, Executive Director of the American Humanist Association, who labels himself an agnostic..." Atheism 101, by William B. Lindley, Truth Seeker Volume 121 (1994) No. 2, (Accessed 14 April 2008)
  112. ^ James Hall. Philosophy of Religion: Lecture 3 (DVD). The Teaching Company.
  113. ^ "This faith in rationality emerged early in Hook's life. Even before he was a teenager he proclaimed himself to be an agnostic." Edward S. Shapiro, Letters of Sidney Hook: Democracy, Communism, and the Cold War, 1995, page 2.
  114. ^ Paul Heyer (2003). Harold Innis. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-7425-2484-2. As an agnostic who favorably cites Marx and questions the role of religion in modernity, Innis would certainly have raised eyebrows at the University of Toronto or virtually any other academic institution in Canada at this time. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  115. ^ "The views of William James on agnostic attitudes and arguments regarding theistic belief were uncharacteristically harsh and wide of the mark." Creighton Peden, Larry E. Axel, God, values, and empiricism: issues in philosophical theology (1989), page 239.
  116. ^ "While this sounds skeptical, Kant is only agnostic about our knowledge of metaphysical objects such as God. And, as noted above, Kant's agnosticism leads to the conclusion that we can neither affirm nor deny claims made by traditional metaphysics." Andrew Fiala, J. M. D. Meiklejohn, Critique of Pure Reason - Introduction, page xi .
  117. ^ Kenny, Anthony (2006). "Why I'm not an atheist". What I Believe. Continuum. ISBN 0-8264-8971-0.
  118. ^ "It is ridiculous to describe that Laozi had started the Dao religion. In fact Laozi is much more sympathetic to atheism than even Greek philosophers in general. To the most, like Buddha and philosophers of Enlightenment, Laoism is agnostic about God." Chen Lee Sun, Laozi's Daodejing-From the Chinese Hermeneutical and the Western Philosophical Perspectives: The English and Chinese Translations Based on Laozi's Original Daoism (2011), page 119.
  119. ^ William C. Lubenow (1998). The Cambridge Apostles, 1820-1914: Liberalism, Imagination, and Friendship in British Intellectual and Professional Life. Cambridge University Press. p. 405. ISBN 978-0-521-57213-2. G.E. Moore was another agnostic Apostle. After an intense religious phase as a boy, Moore came to call himself an infidel... {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  120. ^ "Referring to himself as an agnostic and an advocate of critical realism, Popper gained an early reputation as the chief exponent of the principle of falsification rather than verification." Karl Popper: philosopher of critical realism, by Joe Barnhart, The Humanist magazine, July–August 1996. (Accessed 13 October 2006)
  121. ^ Only fragments of Protagoras' treatise On the Gods survive, but it opens with the sentence: "Concerning the gods, I have no means of knowing whether they exist or not or of what sort they may be. Many things prevent knowledge including the obscurity of the subject and the brevity of human life."
  122. ^ Russell said: "As a philosopher, if I were speaking to a purely philosophic audience I should say that I ought to describe myself as an Agnostic, because I do not think that there is a conclusive argument by which one prove that there is not a God. On the other hand, if I am to convey the right impression to the ordinary man in the street I think I ought to say that I am an Atheist... None of us would seriously consider the possibility that all the gods of Homer really exist, and yet if you were to set to work to give a logical demonstration that Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, and the rest of them did not exist you would find it an awful job. You could not get such proof. Therefore, in regard to the Olympic gods, speaking to a purely philosophical audience, I would say that I am an Agnostic. But speaking popularly, I think that all of us would say in regard to those gods that we were Atheists. In regard to the Christian God, I should, I think, take exactly the same line." Am I an Agnostic or an Atheist?, from Last Philosophical Testament 1943–1968, (1997) Routledge ISBN 0-415-09409-7. Russell was chosen by LOOK magazine to speak for agnostics in their well-known series explaining the religions of the U.S., and authored the essay "What Is An Agnostic?" which appeared November 3, 1953 in that magazine.
  123. ^ MIZ title in German: Materialien und Informationen zur Zeit (MIZ) (Untertitel: Politisches Magazin für Konfessionslose und AtheistInnen)
  124. ^ "Like many other so-called "Atheists" I am also not a pure atheist, but actually an agnostic..." Life without God: A decision for the people (Automatic Google translation of the original, hosted at Schmidt-Salomon's website), by Michael Schmidt-Salomon 19 November 1996, first published in: Education and Criticism: Journal of Humanistic Philosophy and Free Thinking January 1997 (Accessed 1 April 2008)
  125. ^ Asok Sen (1977). Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and his Elusive Milestones. Riddhi-India. p. 157. Vidyasagar did not explicitly deny the existence of God. His position was that of an agnostic who refused to be distracted from the ethical and practical tasks of society, by abstract ideals of divine perfection.
  126. ^ "However, by the time he composed his memoirs Angell had come to realize how inappropriate it had been for 'an agnostic, a heretic, a revolutionary' like himself 'to preach his heretical and revolutionary doctrines' to a readership that was not only 'bourgeois' but 'churchy'." Martin Ceadel, Living the great illusion: Sir Norman Angell, 1872-1967 (2009), page 38.
  127. ^ Jerry H. Brookshire: Clement Attlee. Manchester University Press, 1995. p. 10; 15; 35.
  128. ^ Bachelet said "I am a woman, socialist, separated and agnostic." See Newsweek article An Unlikely Pioneer.
  129. ^ Do you believe in him now, Helen?
  130. ^ Agenda
  131. ^ Holland: Tolerance fuels social experiment the Dutch way - Cover Story - Statistical Data Included
  132. ^ Darrow wrote "I am an agnostic as to the question of God." See Why I Am An Agnostic.
  133. ^ Template:Nl icon Agnosticisme of atheïsme
  134. ^ Wiener Zeitung, published July 8, 2004 (German). "The agnostic Fischer is married for 35 years with Margit." (Translation by PROMT Online Translator).
  135. ^ The scream is not a vehicle of ideas (In Spanish. See also: English translation by PROMT Online Translator. Accessed 13 October 2006.)
  136. ^ Blanche d'Alpuget, Robert J. Hawke, 87
  137. ^ Ingersoll said that "It seems to me that the man who knows the limitations of the mind, who gives the proper value to human testimony, is necessarily an Agnostic." Why Am I Agnostic?, Robert Green Ingersoll, 1889. See also Ingersoll's complete works, which includes many speeches and writings on religion and agnosticism.
  138. ^ Josipović said "Yes, it is true, I am declared agnostic." See Slobodna Dalmacija article in Croatian language[8].
  139. ^ http://www.150volksvertegenwoordigers.nl/?do=profile&mid=106
  140. ^ Rolf Steininger, Günther Bischof, Michael Gehler: Austria in the Twentieth Century. Transaction Publishers, New Brunswick, 2002; p. 270
  141. ^ Chile Moves On, Mark Falcoff, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, April 1, 2000.
  142. ^ http://www.150volksvertegenwoordigers.nl/?do=profile&mid=65
  143. ^ http://www.150volksvertegenwoordigers.nl/?do=profile&mid=64
  144. ^ http://www.150vv.nl/?do=profile&mid=98
  145. ^ Rockwell wrote in his autobiography "I am an agnostic, which means that to all proposals and explanations of the mysteries of life and eternity, I say, 'I do not know and I don't believe you or any other human does either.'" This Time the World, chapter 3, George Lincoln Rockwell, ISBN 1-59364-014-5
  146. ^ http://www.amsterdam.pvda.nl/nieuwsbericht/5187
  147. ^ "The country's Left-leaning Prime Minister, a self-declared agnostic, became a bête noire of the Catholic Church during his first term in office by legalising same-sex marriage, introducing fast-track divorce and allowing embryonic stem-cell research." [9]
  148. ^ http://www.netwerk.tv/node/4505
  149. ^ http://news.google.co.in/newspapers?id=LZotAAAAIBAJ&sjid=jp4FAAAAIBAJ&pg=7168,1579610
  150. ^ Guha, Ramachandra (23 September 2003). "<FONT COLOR=RED SIZE=2 style=text-decoration:none>LEADER ARTICLE</FONT><BR>Inter-faith Harmony: Where Nehru and Gandhi Meet". The Times Of India.
  151. ^ flashnewstoday.com/.../siddaramiah-claims-cm-suffering-from-political-depression/
  152. ^ The Hindu. Chennai, India http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Visakhapatnam/article943497.ece?service=mobile. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  153. ^ JPararajasingham. "Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God". Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  154. ^ Interview with Simon Mayo, BBC Radio Five Live, 2 December 2005.
  155. ^ Brigham Narins, ed. (2001). Notable Scientists from 1900 to the Present: A-C. Gale Group. p. 91. ISBN 978-0-7876-1752-3. When she became a teenager, Sarah changed her name to Hertha as an expression of her independence, and, although she remained proud of her Jewish heritage, also regarded herself as an agnostic. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  156. ^ "He had remained steadfast in agnosticism and therefore, as Mabel took comfort in remarking, "he never denied God." Neither did he affirm God. He and Mabel occasionally attended Presbyterian services and sometimes Episcopalian, at which Mabel could follow the prayer book. Since otherwise she depended on Alec's interpreting, their church goings were rare; but their children attended Presbyterian services regularly. In 1901 Bell came across a Unitarian pamphlet and found its theology congenially undogmatic. "I have always considered myself as an Agnostic," he wrote Mabel, "but I have now discovered that I am a Unitarian Agnostic."" Robert V. Bruce, Bell: Alexander Graham Bell and the conquest of solitude (1990), page 490.
  157. ^ "Concerning Emile Berliner, The Jew TO BE a Jew may mean one of several identities. For example, the Jew, Emile Berliner, the late inventor, called himself agnostic." B'nai B'rith, The National Jewish monthly: Volume 43; Volume 43.
  158. ^ "In 1899, Berliner wrote a book, Conclusions, that speaks of his agnostic ideas on religion and philosophy." Seymour Brody, Jewish heroes & heroines of America: 151 true stories of Jewish American heroism (2003), page 119.
  159. ^ John G. Simmons (2002). Doctors and Discoveries: Lives That Created Today's Medicine. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-618-15276-6. Upon his death on February 10, 1878, Bernard received a state funeral - the first French scientist to be so honored. The procession ended at Pere Lachaise cemetery, and Gustave Flaubert described it later with a touch of irony as "religious and very beautiful." Bernard was an agnostic. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  160. ^ "50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God". JPararajasingham. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  161. ^ "By the time he reached his late teens, he had become firmly agnostic." F. David Peat, Infinite Potential: The Life and Times of David Bohm (1997), page 21.
  162. ^ "MacHale's biography calls George Boole 'an agnostic deist'..." International Association for Semiotic Studies, International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies, International Social Science Council, Semiotica: Volume 105 (1995), page 56.
  163. ^ Siemon-Netto, Uwe (July 2007). "The Legacy of a Philanthropist". The Atlantic Times. Retrieved 9 April 2012. Bosch was an agnostic who funneled large sums of money to the Lutheran Church of Württemberg led by Bishop Theophil Wurm, a leader in the anti-Nazi Confessing Church movement.
  164. ^ "As an agnostic scientist and a Fabian socialist in politics, I had the normal contempt for the Establishment, but I cherished the feeling that I could look anyone on earth in the eye and feel certain he would approve of what I was doing." Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, Endurance of Life: The Implications of Genetics for Human Life (1980), page 198.
  165. ^ "In that sense, it was interesting to learn that Santiago Ramón y Cajal, the great pioneer of modern neuroanatomy, was agnostic but still used the term soul without any shame." Marcelo Suarez-Orozco, Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj,Educating the whole child for the whole world: the Ross School Model and education for the Global Era (2010), page 165.
  166. ^ "Cajal was a liberal in politics, an evolutionist in philosophy, an agnostic in religion..." John Brande Trend,The Origins of Modern Spain (1965), page 82.
  167. ^ Sharon Bertsch McGrayne (2002). Prometheans in the Lab: Chemistry and the Making of the Modern World. Sharon Bertsch McGrayne. p. 139. ISBN 978-0-07-140795-3. Carothers, the agnostic, joked with friends that he was praying daily for his idea to pan out.
  168. ^ Francis Crick, What Mad Pursuit: a Personal View of Scientific Discovery, Basic Books reprint edition, 1990, ISBN 0-465-09138-5, p. 145.
  169. ^ Reid, Robert William (1974). Marie Curie. London: Collins. p. 19. ISBN 0-00-211539-5. Unusually at such an early age, she became what T. H. Huxley had just invented a word for: agnostic.
  170. ^ Darwin wrote: "my judgment often fluctuates... In my most extreme fluctuations I have never been an Atheist in the sense of denying the existence of a God. I think that generally (and more and more as I grow older), but not always, that an Agnostic would be the more correct description of my state of mind." The Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, Ch. VIII, p. 274. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1905. See Charles Darwin's views on religion
  171. ^ "As far as I know Dubois never expressed any atheistic ideas, but he did sometimes show evidence of fiercely anti-Catholic sentiments. His attitude towards religious belief as such can best be characterised as agnostic." Bert Theunissen, Eugène Dubois and the ape-man from Java: the history of the first missing link and its discoverer (1989), page 24.
  172. ^ On Durkheim, Larry R. Ridener, referencing a book by Lewis A. Coser, wrote: "Shortly after his traditional Jewish confirmation at the age of thirteen, Durkheim, under the influence of a Catholic woman teacher, had a shortlived mystical experience that led to an interest in Catholicism. But soon afterwards he turned away from all religious involvement, though emphatically not from interest in religious phenomena, and became an agnostic." See Ridener's page on famous dead sociologists. See also Coser's book: Masters of Sociological Thought: Ideas in Historical and Social Context, 2nd Ed., Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1977: 143-144
  173. ^ "First, the same award was given to an agnostic Mathematician Freeman Dyson,..." Moses Gbenu, Back to Hell (2003), page 110.
  174. ^ "Officially, he calls himself an agnostic, but his writings make it clear that his agnosticism is tinged with something akin to deism." Karl Giberson, Donald A. Yerxa, Species of origins: America's search for a creation story (2002), page 141.
  175. ^ "A theologically more modest version is offered by physicist Freeman Dyson (2000), who describes himself as "a practicing Christian but not a believing Christian"" Garrett G. Fagan, Archaeological fantasies: how pseudoarchaeology misrepresents the past and misleads the public (2006), page 360.
  176. ^ "My position concerning God is that of an agnostic." Albert Einstein in a letter to M. Berkowitz, October 25, 1950; Einstein Archive 59-215; from Alice Calaprice, ed., The Expanded Quotable Einstein, Princeton University Press, 2000, p. 216. As quoted at stephenjaygould.org (Accessed 20 June 2007)
  177. ^ "Enrico Fermi's attitude to the church eventually became one of indifference, and he remained an agnostic all his adult life." Emilio Segre, Enrico Fermi: Physicist (1995), page 5.
  178. ^ Trevor Illtyd Williams (1984). Howard Florey, Penicillin and After. Oxford University Press. p. 363. ISBN 978-0-19-858173-4. As an agnostic, the chapel services meant nothing to Florey but, unlike some contemporary scientists, he was not aggressive in his disbelief.
  179. ^ James A. Hijiya (1992). Lee De Forest and the Fatherhood of Radio. Lehigh University Press. ISBN 978-0-934223-23-2. In 1957, four years after urging Americans to go to church, he described himself as an agnostic.
  180. ^ Mike Adams (2011). Lee de Forest: King of Radio, Television, and Film. Springer. p. 31. ISBN 978-1-4614-0417-0. This was more than a gradual change, and it would cause de Forest to adopt of life of agnosticism, determinism, and Darwinism. He began to believe that he is the master of his destiny, that science can explain all, rather than a god or an unseen divine force. It was said about his philosophy that,"His position shifted gradually from the faith of his father to a rationalistic, scientific one."
  181. ^ Rocke, Alan (1993). The Quiet Revolution: Hermann Kolbe and the science of organic chemistry. University of California Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-0-520-08110-9. However, if we consider that Frankland was a "born- again" Christian during much of this period (before he began to fall into agnosticism himself), that the term agnostic did not even exist at that time...
  182. ^ "This flat declaration prompted Ellis Franklin to accuse his strong-willed daughter of making science her religion. He was right. Rosalind sent him a four-page declaration, eloquent for a young woman just over 20 let alone a scientist of any age. ..."It has just occurred to me that you may raise the question of a creator. A creator of what? […] I see no reason to believe that a creator of protoplasm or primeval matter, if such there be, has any reason to be interested in our insignificant race in a tiny corner of the universe, and still less in us, as still more insignificant individuals. Again, I see no reason why the belief that we are insignificant or fortuitous should lessen our faith - as I have defined it."" Brenda Maddox, Mother of DNA, NewHumanist.org.uk - Volume 117 Issue 3 Autumn 2002.
  183. ^ Listed as an agnostic on NNDB.com. Rosalind Franklin, NNDB.com.
  184. ^ In correspondence with conservative Christian commentator John Lofton, Milton Friedman wrote: "I am an agnostic. I do not ‘believe in’ God, but I am not an atheist, because I believe the statement, ‘There is a god’ does not admit of being either confirmed or rejected." An Exchange: My Correspondence With Milton Friedman About God, Economics, Evolution And "Values", by John Lofton, The American View, October–December 2006, (Accessed 12 January 2007)
  185. ^ "The family adopted the Lutheran faith in 1918, and although Gabor nominally remained true to it, religion appears to have had little influence in his life. He later acknowledged the role played by an antireligious humanist education in the development of his ideas and stated his position as being that of a “benevolent agnostic.”" "Gabor, Dennis." Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (January 30, 2012). [10]
  186. ^ "The publication of Darwin’s ‘‘Origin of Species’’ totally transformed his intellectual life, giving him a sense of evolutionary process without which much of his later work would have been unimaginable. Galton became a ‘‘religious agnostic’’, recognising the social value of religion but not its transcendental basis." Robert Peel, Sir Francis Galton FRS (1822-1911) - The Legacy of His Ideas -.
  187. ^ JPararajasingham. "Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God". Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  188. ^ JPararajasingham. "Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God". Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  189. ^ JPararajasingham. "Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God". Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  190. ^ "Feynman, Gell-Man, Weinberg, and their peers accept Newton's incomparable stature and shrug off his piety, on the kindly thought that the old man got into the game too early. ...As for Gell-Mann, he seems to see nothing to discuss in this entire God business, and in the index to The Quark and the Jaguar God goes unmentioned. Life he called a "complex adaptive system" which produces interesting phenomena such as the jaguar and Murray Gell-Mann, who discovered the quark. Gell-Mann is a Nobel-class tackler of problems, but for him the existence of God is not one of them." Herman Wouk, The Language God Talks: On Science and Religion (2010).
  191. ^ "So we don’t have to assume these principles as separate metaphysical postulates. They follow from the fundamental theory. They are what we call emergent properties. You don’t need something more to get something more. That’s what emergence means. Life can emerge from physics and chemistry, plus a lot of accidents. The human mind can arise from neurobiology, and a lot of accidents. The way the chemical bond arises from physics and certain accidents. Doesn’t diminish the importance of these subjects, to know that they follow from more fundamental things, plus accidents. That’s a general rule, and it’s critically important to realize that. You don’t need something more in order to get something more. People keep asking that when they read my book, The Quark and the Jaguar, and they say ‘isn’t there something more beyond what you have there?’ Presumably they mean something supernatural. Anyway, there isn’t. (laughs) You don’t need something more to explain something more." Murray Gell-Mann, Beauty and truth in physics: Murray Gell-Mann on TED.com (2007), Ted.com.
  192. ^ Listed as an agnostic on NNDB.com. Murray Gell-Mann, NNDB.com.
  193. ^ "...I certainly felt bemused by the anomaly of my role as a Jewish agnostic, trying to reassure a group of Catholic priests that evolution remained both true and entirely consistent with religious belief." Nonoverlapping Magisteria, by Stephen Jay Gould, Natural History 106 (March 1997): 16-22; Reprinted from Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms, New York: Harmony Books, 1998, pp. 269-283.
  194. ^ "50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God". JPararajasingham. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  195. ^ "Though Hayek was a self-professed agnostic, we show that his treatment of individual liberty was more consistent with a Judeo-Christian worldview than with that of his naturalist peers and postmodernist successors." Kenneth G. Elzinga, Matthew R. Givens,Christianity and Hayek (2009), page 53.
  196. ^ "He apparently composed the conclusion of the work on page 140, Hayek's "final word." Emphasis on Hayek's agnostic religious views was not as prominent in Hayek's own versions of "The Fatal Conceit"." Alan O. Ebenstein, Hayek's journey: the mind of Friedrich Hayek (2003), page 224.
  197. ^ Gary Paul Nabhan (2004). Why Some Like it Hot: Food, Genes, And Cultural Diversity. Island Press. p. 73. ISBN 978-1-55963-466-3. Not long after his first reading of Carson's work, Motulsky recalled a quirky speculation — described below — by the pioneering evolutionary biologist and agnostic JBS Haldane, who had published an essay in 1949 entitled, "Disease and Evolution." {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  198. ^ "Also, when someone blamed Galileo for not standing up for his convictions Hilbert became quite irate and said, “But he was not an idiot. Only an idiot could believe that scientific truth needs martyrdom; that may be necessary in religion, but scientific results prove themselves in due time." Anton Z. Capri, Quips, quotes, and quanta: an anecdotal history of physics (2007), page 135.
  199. ^ Listed as agnostic on NNDB.com. David Hilbert
  200. ^ "Mathematics is a presuppositionless science. To found it I do not need God, as does Kronecker, or the assumption of a special faculty of our understanding attuned to the principle of mathematical induction, as does Poincaré, or the primal intuition of Brouwer, or, finally, as do Russell and Whitehead, axioms of infinity, reducibility, or completeness, which in fact are actual, contentual assumptions that cannot be compensated for by consistency proofs." David Hilbert, Die Grundlagen der Mathematik, Hilbert's program, 22C:096, University of Iowa.
  201. ^ "Gerardus `t Hooft - Science Video Interview". 2004. Retrieved 25 April 2012. When asked by the interviewer about his view of the universe and the design or non-design of the universe, Hooft replied, "Well absolutely amazing fact that it seems that the entire universe is now in grasp of theoretical physics. It still highly premature to make theories that includes how the big bang originated as and things like that. Although, people are tying that every day. ...As far as I'm concerned, everything seems to behave completely rationally. The laws of physics is all we need to understand how the universe got into being. And then eventually we end up with this religious question as to why is the universe is the way it is and how can it be it is a place for humans to live in, that is a miracle. I don't have really any answers here, but as a physicist I've learn to appreciate the fact that everything seems to have totally rational explainations and as far as I'm concerned, I expect the entire universe now also to be something you can explain in completely rational terms. That what I expect now, just because of past experience."
  202. ^ "Gerardus `t Hooft - Science Video Interview". 2004. Retrieved 25 April 2012. When asked by the interviewer about his belief in an afterlife, Hooft replied, "Well, such beliefs I think I related to religions of the past and I don't think that notions such as 'afterlife' has any...scientific basis. Not in terms of modern science. So I can only say no."
  203. ^ The Editor (June 19, 2008). "Fred Hoyle – Astronomer Extraordinaire". Retrieved 22 April 2012. Hoyle was reportedly an atheist during most of his early life, but became agnostic when he found that he could not feel comfortable trying to explain the finer workings of physics and the Universe as simply "an accident." {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  204. ^ "Humboldt, by contrast, was an agnostic in religious sentiment and a Heraclitean in his cosmology; he regarded change, and species mutability, as being as natural as changing wind patterns or ocean currents." Harry Francis Mallgrave, Gottfried Semper: Architect of the Nineteenth Century (1996), page 157.
  205. ^ "Every variety of philosophical and theological opinion was represented there, and expressed itself with entire openness; most of my colleagues were ists of one sort or another; and, however kind and friendly they might be, I, the man without a rag of a label to cover himself with, could not fail to have some of the uneasy feelings which must have beset the historical fox when, after leaving the trap in which his tail remained, he presented himself to his normally elongated companions. So I took thought, and invented what I conceived to be the appropriate title of agnostic.'" Part 2 - Agnosticism, by T.H. Huxley, from Christianity and Agnosticism: A Controversy, New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1889. Hosted at the Secular Web. (Accessed 5 April 2008)
  206. ^ Edwin T. Jaynes (2003). G. Larry Bretthorst (ed.). Probability Theory: The Logic of Science. Cambridge University Press. p. 74. ISBN 978-0-521-59271-0. We agnostics often envy the True Believer, who thus acquires so easily that sense of security which is forever denied to us. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  207. ^ Russell, Colin (2003). Edward Frankland: Chemistry, Controversy and Conspiracy in Victorian England. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-54581-5. It may be noticed in passing that the connection once made between Kolbe's cautious attitude to molecular structure and his alleged agnosticism in religion now seems thoroughly misplaced. Kolbe, son of a Lutheran pastor and apparently sharing his faith, is in sharp contrast to his rivals who were 'younger upper-middle class urban liberals and agnostics, such as Kekule'.
  208. ^ Listed as an agnostic on NNDB.com. Friedrich August Kekulé, NNDB.com.
  209. ^ Toye, J. (2000). Keynes on Population. Oxford University Press. p. 136. ISBN 978-0-19-829362-0. Like Nietzsche, the young Keynes was both very aware of religion, and hostile to it. Formally speaking, in religion he was an aggressive agnostic. As described by his younger brother Geoffrey, 'he always felt an intellectual interest in religion, but at the age of seventeen or eighteen passed painlessly, as did my sister and I, into a natural state of agnosticism'.
  210. ^ Listed as an agnostic on NNDB.com. John Maynard Keynes, NNDB.com.
  211. ^ JPararajasingham. "Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God". Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  212. ^ "In religious matters Lagrange was, if anything at all, agnostic." Eric Temple Bell, Men of Mathematics (1986).
  213. ^ "Napoleon replies: "How comes it, then, that Laplace was an atheist? At the Institute neither he nor Monge, nor Berthollet, nor Lagrange believed in God. But they did not like to say so." Baron Gaspard Gourgaud, Talks of Napoleon at St. Helena with General Baron Gourgaud (1904), page 274.
  214. ^ "Lagrange and Laplace, though of Catholic parentage, were agnostics." Morris Kline, Mathematics and the Search for Knowledge (1986), page 214.
  215. ^ "About his inattention to religion, his usual response was, "Never believe anything that can't be proved."" Irving Langmuir, NNDB.com.[11]
  216. ^ "Though Marion herself was not an assiduous churchgoer and had no serious objection to Irving's agnostic views,..." Chauncey Guy Suits, The Collected Works of Irving Langmuir: Langmuir, the man and the scientist, including a biography by Albert Rosenfield, page 99.
  217. ^ Adam Frank (August 1, 2006). "The Einstein Dilemma". Discover Magazine. Retrieved 11 May 2012. TeVeS does everything," says Mario Livio with enthusiasm. A self-described agnostic in the MOND debate, but one with an obvious love for the underdog, Livio says that Bekenstein's work is "a phenomenal paper.
  218. ^ JPararajasingham. "Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God". Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  219. ^ "I'm a scientist, not a theologian. I don't know if there is a God or not. Religion requires certainty. Revere and respect Gaia. Have trust in Gaia. But not faith." James Lovelock, James Lovelock, Gaia’s grand old man, Lawrence E. Joseph, August 17, 2000.
  220. ^ "50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God". JPararajasingham. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  221. ^ JPararajasingham. "Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God". Retrieved 11 May 2012.
  222. ^ Naukowe, Łódzkie (2003). Bulletin de la Société des sciences et des lettres de Łódź: Série, Recherches sur les déformations, Volumes 39-42. Société des sciences et des lettres de Łódź. p. 162. Michelson's biographers stress, that our hero was not conspicuous by religiousness. His father was a free-thinker and Michelson grew up in non-religious family and have no opportunity to acknowledge the believe of his forebears. He was agnostic through his whole life and only for the short period he was a member of the 21st lodge in Washington. {{cite book}}: More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)
  223. ^ "The Dutch Nobel prize-winner, Simon van der Meer expressed this as follows: "As a physicist, you have to have a split personality to be still able to believe in a god."" Alfred Driessen, Antoine Suarez, Mathematical undecidability, quantum nonlocality, and the question of the existence of God (1997).
  224. ^ Listed as an agnostic on NNDB.com. Simon van der Meer, NNDB.com.
  225. ^ Erik Ritter von Kuehnelt-Leddihn: The Cultural Background of Ludwig von Mises http://mises.org/pdf/asc/essays/kuehneltLeddihn.pdf
  226. ^ "Indeed, for someone who was an agnostic, Mises wrote a great deal about religion. The number of references he makes to religion is staggering, actually numbering over twenty-five hundred in his published corpus." Laurence M. Vance, Mises Debunks the Religious Case for the State, Thursday, February 10, 2005.
  227. ^ "Ludwig von Mises, who was agnostic, skeptical, and non-political." Block, Walter and Rockwell Jr., Llewellyn H., Man, Economy, and Liberty: Essays in Honor of Murray N. Rothbard, page 168.
  228. ^ J.M. Cohen. The Life of Ludwig Mond. Taylor & Francis. p. 16. Ludwig therefore learned sufficient Hebrew to go through the Barmitzvah ceremony, though he rapidly became an agnostic in outlook as he grew up.
  229. ^ Charlie Rose: "What is your sense of religion and spiritual being?" Myhrvold: "Not. It's --" Charlie: "Not?" Myhrvold: "There is a bunch of wonderful stories that people tell themselves and each other that they take as a matter of faith rather than evidence -- I'm not saying it's bad, and they get a tremendous amount of comfort from it. I like things that can be proven and I worry about things where i might be believing exactly what I would like to hear. So it would be wonderful if, after we die here, we go to a much better place, just like it would be wonderful if we were the most important things in the world, but in the past we thought we were really important. We discovered afterwards we weren't. As a result, I am much more focused on things that I can understand in a scientific way which kind of -- lets faith out of it." Charlie Rose interview, Nathan Myhrvold, CEO And Founder, Intellectual Ventures, May 20, 2010.[12]
  230. ^ Scientists Greater Than Einstein: The Biggest Lifesavers of the Twentieth Century. Quill Driver Books. 2009. p. 138. ISBN 978-1-884956-87-4. Through the years, David Nalin collected art wherever he went. Although he does not consider himself religious or spiritual, he was attracted to personal items of worship more than grandiose objects. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  231. ^ Nansen, Fridtjof (1929). "Min tro" (PDF). Nansens røst, andre bind: 1. Retrieved 1942. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  232. ^ Morris, Edward (2003). "Finding the father inside". BookPage. Retrieved 2007-06-11. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  233. ^ "I gradually slipped away from religion over several years and became an atheist or to be more philosophically correct, a sceptical agnostic." Nurse's autobiography at Nobelprize.org
  234. ^ Steve Wartenberg: ""So, do you believe in God?" I asked". ""You really can't know," answered Bill Nye the Controversial Guy." Steve Wartenberg, The Morning Call, April 06, 2006.
  235. ^ "Today, I consider myself, in Thomas Huxley's terms, an agnostic. I don’t know whether there is a God or creator, or whatever we may call a higher intelligence or being. I don’t know whether there is an ultimate reason for our being or whether there is anything beyond material phenomena. I may doubt these things as a scientist, as we cannot prove them scientifically, but at the same time we also cannot falsify (disprove) them. For the same reasons, I cannot deny God with certainty, which would make me an atheist. This is a conclusion reached by many scientists." George Olah, A Life of Magic Chemistry
  236. ^ "It was nice to be honoured but I like ‘Mark’ not ‘Sir Mark’. When one’s young, one’s brash and all-knowing; when one’s old, one realises how little one knows. You asked me earlier if I believed in God and the hereafter. I would tend to say no but when one dies one could well be surprised." Mark Oliphant from an interview in 1996., Sir Mark Oliphant - Reluctant Builder of the Atom Bomb.
  237. ^ JPararajasingham. annotation_id=annotation_125833&feature=iv&src_vid=s47ArcQL-XQ&v=6Gt4WSK_NlQ "Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God". Retrieved 11 May 2012. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  238. ^ "Now Ibn al-Haytham was a devout Muslim – that is, he was a supernaturalist. He studied science because he considered that by doing this he could better understand the nature of the god that he believed in – he thought that a supernatural agent had created the laws of nature. The same is true of virtually all the leading scientists in the Western world, such as Galileo and Newton, who lived after al-Haytham, until about the middle of the twentieth century. There were a few exceptions – Pierre Laplace, Simeon Poisson, Albert Einstein, Paul Dirac and Marie Curie were naturalists for example." John Ellis, How Science Works: Evolution: A Student Primer, page 13.
  239. ^ JPararajasingham. annotation_id=annotation_125833&feature=iv&src_vid=s47ArcQL-XQ&v=6Gt4WSK_NlQ "Another 50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God". Retrieved 11 May 2012. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  240. ^ . BBC Radio 4 http://www.celebatheists.com/wiki/Vilayanur_S._Ramachandran. Retrieved 12 May 2012. Like most scientists I'm agnostic. If you're talking about God in some very abstract sense, like in India the Dance of Shiva or in the Spinoza sense of the word God, then I'll say I have no problem with it. But if you're talking about an old guy there who's watching me and making sure I behave myself and that I pray to him every day and that I will be punished in Hell if I do something wrong, I don't believe in that. And I don't want to offend anybody here, but that's my personal view. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  241. ^ "I submit that Hubble was looking for this principle of tired light. A hundred years from now, people will look back on the Big Bang Creationists and their antics with laughter much as we laugh at those who argued over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin!" Grote Reber,The Big Bang is Bunk, page 49.
  242. ^ Listed as an agnostic on NNDB.com. Grote Reber, NNDB.com
  243. ^ "50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God". JPararajasingham. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  244. ^ "Eugenie Richet was a highly religious woman; Charles made his first communion with real devotion and fleetingly promised to enter the priesthood, but he abandoned his childhood faith during his adolescence. As an adult, he became an agnostic, a freethinker and a Freemason, who was nonetheless fairly tolerant of his wife Amelie's continued faith." Mark S. Micale, The mind of modernism: medicine, psychology, and the cultural arts in Europe and America, 1880-1940 (2004), page 220.
  245. ^ Rotblat: "I have to admit, however, that there are really many things that I do not know. I am not a particularly religious person, and this is the reason for my agnosticism. To be an agnostic simply means that I do not know and will keep seeking the answer for eternity. This is my response to questions about religion." Joseph Rotblat, Daisaku Ikeda, A quest for global peace: Rotblat and Ikeda on war, ethics, and the nuclear threat, Page 94.
  246. ^ "Famed scientist Carl Sagan was also a renowned sceptic and agnostic who during his life refused to believe in anything unless there was physical evidence to support it." "Unbeliever's Quest" by Jerry Adler, in Newsweek, March 31, 1997. Excerpt hosted at HighBeam Research accessed 2 November 2007.
  247. ^ Hargittai, István (April 1999), "Interview: Frederick Sanger", The Chemical Intelligencer, 4 (2), New York: Springer-Verlag: 6–11. This interview, which took place on 16 September 1997, was republished in: Hargittai, István (2002), "Chapter 5: Frederick Sanger", Candid science II: conversations with famous biomedical scientists, London: Imperial College Press, pp. 73–83, ISBN 1-86094-288-1
  248. ^ Schuster, Peter. "Interview with Peter Schuster". National Catholic Reporter. Archived from the original on 2008-04-05. Retrieved 2008-04-25. ... I was a Catholic, but I no longer consider myself one. I suppose I am agnostic. Let's put it his way -- I have difficulties with the idea of a personal God. I don't have trouble with God as creator of the world as a whole.
  249. ^ Kragh, Helge (2004). Matter and spirit in the Universe: scientific and religious preludes to modern cosmology. OECD Publishing. p. 237. ISBN 978-1-86094-469-7. Shapley was not committed to any particular model of the expanding universe, but he did have strong opinions about the relationship between astronomy and religion. A confirmed agnostic, in the postwar period he often participated in science-religion discussions, and in 1960 he edited a major work on the subject — Science Ponders Religion.
  250. ^ "Pavlov also sharply criticised Sherrington's agnosticism. "I am all the more surprised," Pavlov went on to say, "that for some reason or other he regards knowledge of this soul as something pernicious and clearly expresses this point of view; according to him..." George Windholz, Psychopathology and psychiatry (1994), page 419.
  251. ^ "By his early teens, Simpson had given up being a Christian, although he had not formally declared himself an atheist. At college he began the gradual development of what might best be called positivistic agnosticism: a belief that the world could be known and explained by ordinary empirical observation without recourse to supernatural forces. Ultimate causation, he considered unknowable." Léo F. Laporte, Simple curiosity; letters from George Gaylord Simpson to his family, 1921-1970 (1987), page 16.
  252. ^ Sol Sherry (1993). Reflections and reminiscences of an academic physician. Lea & Febiger. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-8121-1666-3. Another story deals with Homer Smith. As I noted previously, besides being the foremost renal physiologist of his time he was a devout agnostic. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  253. ^ "Both Enrico and Leo were agnostics." Nina Byers, Fermi and Szilard.
  254. ^ Edward Teller (2002). Memoirs: A Twentieth Century Journey In Science And Politics. Basic Books. p. 32. ISBN 978-0-7382-0778-0. Religion was not an issue in my family; indeed, it was never discussed. My only religious training came because the Minta required that all students take classes in their respective religions. My family celebrated one holiday, the Day of Atonement, when we all fasted. Yet my father said prayers for his parents on Saturdays and on all the Jewish holidays. The idea of God that I absorbed was that it would be wonderful if He existed: We needed Him desperately but had not seen Him in many thousands of years. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  255. ^ "Though research activities dominated his working days, Faraday never neglected to meet with his Christian friends for worship and prayer. We quote again from John Tyndall who, it should be said, was an agnostic: "I think that a good deal of Faraday's week-day strength and persistency might be referred to his Sunday Exercises. He drinks from a fount on Sunday which refreshes his soul for a week."" The Biblical Creation Society, Michael Faraday pioneer scientist - Christian Man of Science, 2002.
  256. ^ "The odd subtext of that offer was that Faraday was intensely religious, and Tyndall was as fascinated with Faraday's convictions as he was with prayer, miracles, and cosmology. Faraday "drinks from a fount on Sunday which refreshes his soul for a week," said the agnostic Tyndall with obvious fascination -- and, perhaps, a trace of envy." John H. Lienhard, Science, Religion, and John Tyndall, The Engines of our Ingenuity.
  257. ^ Chris Mooney (February 28, 2011). "Neil deGrasse Tyson – Communicating Science". Point of Inquiry (Podcast). Center for Inquiry. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
  258. ^ ""I'm an agnostic. Sometimes I muse deeply on the forces that are for me invisible. When I am almost close to the idea of God, I feel immediately estranged by the horrors of this world, which he seems to tolerate..." Later Ulam expressed his opinions about matters that have very little in common with science." Polska Agencja Międzyprasowa, Poland: Issue 9 (1976).
  259. ^ "50 Renowned Academics Speaking About God". JPararajasingham. Retrieved 12 May 2012.
  260. ^ John Simmons (1996). The scientific 100: a rankings of the most influential scientists, past and present. Carol Publishing Group. p. 90. ISBN 978-0-8065-1749-0. For his abrasive antiroyalist as well as agnostic views, Virchow was made to suffer in the subsequent period of political reaction; his meager salary was cut off and he was effectively dismissed from Charite.
  261. ^ "Virchow had no use for teleology in pathology: "The teleo-logical purists were always forced to go back to original sin,* without finding this way much recognition." We found Virchow to be an agnostic as early as 1845." Erwin Heinz Ackerknecht, Rudolf Virchow: doctor, statesman, anthropologist (1953), page 51.
  262. ^ "Andre Weil was an agnostic but respected religions." I. Grattan-Guinness, Bhuri Singh Yadav, History of the Mathematical Sciences (2004).
  263. ^ "On June 2, 1964, Swami Sarvagatananda presided over the memorial service at MIT in remembrance of Norbert Wiener — scion of Maimonides, father of cybernetics, avowed agnostic — reciting in Sanskrit from the holy books of Hinduism, the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita." Flo Conway, Jim Siegelman, Dark Hero of the Information Age: In Search Of Norbert Wiener--Father of Cybernetics (2006), page 329.
  264. ^ "Although Wilczek grew up in the Roman Catholic faith, he now considers himself agnostic. He still has a fondness for the Church, so this book should not offend Christians. In fact Wilczek cites Father James Malley for a Jesuit Credo that states: "It is more blessed to ask forgiveness than permission."" Jim Walker, nobeliefs.com. [13]
  265. ^ Wozniak, Steven. "Letters-General Questions Answered". woz.org. Retrieved 2007-09-26. ... I am also atheist or agnostic (I don't even know the difference). I've never been to church and prefer to think for myself. I do believe that religions stand for good things, and that if you make irrational sacrifices for a religion, then everyone can tell that your religion is important to you and can trust that your most important inner faiths are strong.
  266. ^ Zinsser, Hans (2007). Rats, Lice, and History. Transaction Publishers. p. xxvii. ISBN 978-1-4128-0672-5. "...I, for one, must be content to remain an agnostic." Zinsser was gratified that death was coming with due warning rather than suddenness, and in his last months achieved a degree of philosophical tranquility and resignation. {{cite book}}: More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help)
  267. ^ Listed as an agnostic on NNDB.com. Hans Zinsser, NNDB.com.
  268. ^ Konrad Zuse (1993). The Computer, My Life. Springer. pp. 12–13. ISBN 978-3-540-56453-9. The only problem was that the progressive spirit at our school did not always correspond to my parents' ideas. This was particularly true for religious instruction, which now and again seemed even to us pupils to be rather too enlightened. After the 'Abitur' my parents wanted to go to communion with me; is was a terrible disappointment to them when I wouldn't go. They had lived under the illusion that I was a good student when it came to religion, too, which wasn't the case. ...I remember a poem presented by a student, which made a great impression on me. The essence of the poem read, "Basically, you are always alone." I have forgotten the name of the poet, but have often experienced the truth of these words in later life." {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  269. ^ Krakauer, Jon Where Men Win Glory, Doubleday, 2009, p 116, 314. "Tillman was an agnostic, perhaps even an atheist". See also quotes from Tillman's brother Kevin.
  270. ^ http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1010377-rafael-nadals-agnosticism-refreshing-alternative-to-tim-tebows-psychosis