Our server costs ~$56 per month to run. Please consider donating or becoming a Patron to help keep the site running. Help us gain new members by following us on Twitter and liking our page on Facebook!
Current time: December 3, 2024, 2:12 am

Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
Atheists, what are your thoughts on us Agnostics?
#96
RE: Atheists, what are your thoughts on us Agnostics?
(November 29, 2017 at 12:50 pm)ƵenKlassen Wrote:
(November 29, 2017 at 12:35 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: I am just as confused as ever on the difference between agnostic and atheist.

 The difference between an agnostic and atheist is:


  An atheist is absolutely sure there is no god.

  An agnostic is not sure whether there is a god or not.

 

  I hope this clears things up...

That's just not true at all.  I'm an atheist and I don't claim certainty that there is no god. Atheism and agnosticism address two different questions. A/theism addresses the theological belief question (do you believe X is true?), whereas a/gnosticism addresses the epistemological knowledge question (are you CERTAIN X is true/do you think X can be known to be true?).

(November 29, 2017 at 12:49 pm)Catholic_Lady Wrote: I guess people have different definitions. Someone else just told me atheism is lack of belief and lack of disbelief in God. I dont see how that definition in particular is different from agnostic, or even apathetic.

Yeah, this is why it's confusing.  It's far easier to just talk about the actual positions instead of the label, but actually having people understand what a label means would be convenient.  

Atheism = 'i do not believe a god(s) exist' = lack of a belief in god(s)

Even more muddy, is that there isn't really a term for someone who claims "there is no god". This person would certainly be an atheist, but would be making a further, separate claim instead of just responding to the theist claim, and they would need another term for their separate claim. This is what gets rolled up into the 'atheist' label, which only adds to the confusion.

Atheists do not have a belief in a god. Some may go one step further and claim that gods do NOT exist, but that isn't what atheism is - that's atheism + something else that doesn't really have a good term.
In every country and every age, the priest had been hostile to Liberty.
- Thomas Jefferson
Reply



Messages In This Thread
RE: Atheists, what are your thoughts on us Agnostics? - by FatAndFaithless - November 29, 2017 at 12:54 pm
RE: Atheists, what are your thoughts on us Agnostics? - by DLJ - November 29, 2017 at 11:23 pm

Possibly Related Threads...
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  Are Atheists Afraid to Join Atheists? Asmodeus 10 676 October 26, 2024 at 9:09 am
Last Post: Asmodeus
  Anyone else struggle with cynical/rude thoughts towards religious people? syntheticadrenaline 27 1154 October 11, 2024 at 12:32 pm
Last Post: syntheticadrenaline
Question Atheists and Agnostics that have child Eclectic 11 1565 August 28, 2022 at 3:36 pm
Last Post: arewethereyet
  All kind of Agnostics people Eclectic 4 684 August 25, 2022 at 5:24 pm
Last Post: Jehanne
  Atheists, whats your view on "Stefan Molyneux" Aneiu1 1 647 November 13, 2021 at 7:36 am
Last Post: BrianSoddingBoru4
  Atheists: Your facade cant disguise Renio92 19 2685 September 2, 2020 at 10:39 pm
Last Post: Nay_Sayer
  Atheists: What if Trump addressed your issues in America. Would you vote for him? Sanau 38 5965 March 30, 2020 at 8:15 pm
Last Post: Anomalocaris
  What is your stance on magic fellow atheists ? tahaadi 42 6030 October 13, 2018 at 9:51 pm
Last Post: Angrboda
  Your thoughts on John Gray? Silver 12 3632 May 14, 2018 at 9:39 pm
Last Post: brewer
  I enjoy far right atheists more than lgbt marxist atheists Sopra 4 2418 February 28, 2018 at 9:09 pm
Last Post: Edwardo Piet



Users browsing this thread: 8 Guest(s)