Agnosticism

Is agnosticism a viable philsophical position? Is it even possible to be 'undecided' on the existence of god?

I assert that agnosticism is actually a form of atheism. Moreover, the commonly-used definition is misunderstood today, allowing people to escape to a 'middle-ground' that doesn't really exist.

Feel free to comment away!

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[MrMansson10]

oh & ppl tend to pronounce agnosticism wrong. It's not ag-nostic, a-gnosis, with the g silent. Do they say the word minus the A, guh-nostic? No the suffix is pronounced the same as it is without the prefix or whatever. I think you pronounced it correctly, kudos to you for that. :-D

[MrMansson10]

I agree with what you say about agnosticism not being what people assume it to be & how it's a form of atheism. It makes perfect sense when you think about it:agnosticism is epistomology, the epistomology of doubt, while atheism is metaphysics. They're two sides of the same coin. They go hand in hand.

[PeetsaBoy66]

@233259 Yes, I'm agnostic about the things I don't know. I agree that religion is probably nonsense, but I can't know that for certain either. I think that atheists are ignorant because they are refusing to acknowledge the possibility of a god. I think people that are religious or atheist aren't thinking or they think they MUST believe in something even if they're uncertain.

[233259]

@PeetsaBoy66 There's almost nothing that can be known for certain. But you either believe in something or you don't. Theists believe in at least one god or goddess, atheists don't believe in any god or goddess (and most of us think that theism/religion is actually absolute nonsense and can't be taken seriously, or at least I do.)

Are you an agnostic about EVERYTHING that can't be known for certain one way or another?

[incomprehensible14]

And yes, it's possible to not have an opinion. Funny how people don't get mad at me for not having an opinion on the best nine year old golfer in the world, or on other sports that I don't watch but people get angry when you say you don't have an opinion about the one thing you can't ever learn about: a deistic god(s).

[incomprehensible14]

He's right, the word agnostic has been hijacked. There is no such thing as "agnostic-atheism". If you can't show an example of Huxley mentioning "agnostic-atheism", you have nothing. And yes, agnosticism is a viable philosophical position since it was coined in a time where atheism was commonly seen as a "belief there are no gods" (and it still is beyond youtube). Agnosticism means you don't have an opinion on gods other then a rejection of esoteric spiritual knowledge aka gnosticism.

[PeetsaBoy66]

So you want agnostics to say "the nature of god is unknowable" instead of the more commonly used "I don't know if God exists or not"? That's sorta picky. I believe there is a middle ground. If I can't know for certain, then why would I be an atheist or a theist?

[MrRazorz]

@residentatheist Finally (and apologies for swamping you with replies, blame the word limit) you can't say "I know something doesn't exist." How do you prove the absence of something?

I don't believe in God (no evidence), but I don't "know" he's not real. For that I'd have to prove the non-existence of every variation of "God" throughout the whole of human history, and scour every theoretical universe to prove he's not hiding in one.

Fortunately, the burden of proof lies with believers.

[MrRazorz]

@residentatheist You're misunderstanding me. A firm belief is still just a belief, yes. But it isn't knowledge. The theist says he "knows" there's a God - but he doesn't know, because he hasn't seen God with his own eyes. Therefore, all he has is a firm belief.

To get back to the original point: Belief is either there, or it isn't. You can't "half-believe" something. If you refer to yourself as "agnostic", you clearly don't have a firm belief in God. Therefore, you're an atheist.

[MrRazorz]

@residentatheist It's also worth defining the difference between "proof" and "evidence". Evidence is something which suggests or implies something is true. Proof is something that removes all doubt. Belief can be backed up by evidence (I believe Steve killed Bob, because his fingerprints were on the murder weapon). But it doesn't become knowledge unless I have absolute proof (I know Steve killed Bob, because I saw him pull the trigger).