RE: Enlightened [Elitist] Agnosticism
February 26, 2015 at 9:20 pm
(This post was last modified: February 26, 2015 at 9:35 pm by wiploc.)
(February 12, 2015 at 3:54 pm)Dystopia Wrote: I'm a strong/gnostic atheist (or positive atheist) .... Which part of this is confusing?
"Strong atheist" and "positive atheist" are synonyms. A gnostic strong atheist would be one who knows that gods don't exist.
But strong/gnostic atheist? That part is confusing.
Is it that you equate strong atheism with gnostic atheism? That doesn't work. A strong atheist believes gods don't exist. A gnostic knows whether gods exist. They aren't the same thing.
Quote: I lack belief but I also believe
Now that part could be designed to confuse.
Quote: there's no gods .... I know there's no gods the same way I know gravity exists
You may know more about gravity than I do. But it looks like you're a gnostic strong atheist. I use that label too, but only with regard to the standard Christian god.
(February 12, 2015 at 4:02 pm)FatAndFaithless Wrote: If a-theism is just a response to theistic claims ("I don't accept the claim god exists"), how exactly would you use that definition in "gnostic atheism"? "I know I don't accept the claim -god exists-"?
A gnostic knows whether gods exist. An atheist doesn't believe gods exist. In order to know (without being irrational) whether gods exist without believing that they exist, one would have to know that they do not exist. Therefore, a gnostic atheist would be a strong atheist (one who believe that gods do not exist) whose belief is so well founded as to constitute knowledge.
"Gnostic atheist" isn't common phrasing. You can have a gnostic theist or a gnostic strong atheist, but you can't have a gnostic weak atheist ("I know whether god exists, but I don't have an opinion either way.") So we usually say "gnostic strong atheist" rather than just "gnostic atheist."
(February 12, 2015 at 3:21 pm)FatAndFaithless Wrote:(February 12, 2015 at 3:14 pm)Dystopia Wrote: It's called gnostic atheism.
But again, atheism is just a response to the assertive god claim, not a claim in itself.
I'm not entirely comfortable with that. Atheism isn't just weak atheism; it also includes strong atheism, which does make a claim.
Quote:Atheism is the middle ground between the claim "There is a god"
and the claim "There is no god".
Definitely not true. That's weak atheism. Atheism includes every position that is not theism. Strong atheism (the belief that there are no gods) is definitely part of atheism.
Quote: I'm just wondering if there is a term for specifically the claim 'there is no god'.
The belief that there is no god is strong atheism.
Quote:Because I have something in common with theists in my belief. We both don't accept the claim 'there is no god'. I'm an a-theist and an a-(whatever the claiming "there is no god" word is).
You're a weak atheist.
(February 12, 2015 at 3:30 pm)FatAndFaithless Wrote: But if we already agree on the term "atheist" meaning only "I do not accept the claim -God exists-" in response to that question specifically, I wouldn't want to use it to address the opposite claim, which is an entirely different quesiton.
Strong atheists (those who believe that gods do not exist) are necessarily atheists (those who do not believe that gods do exist). "Strong atheist" is a subcategory of "atheist."
