Strong/Gnostic Atheism and Weak/Agnostic Atheism
August 17, 2014 at 1:04 pm
(This post was last modified: August 17, 2014 at 1:08 pm by Dystopia.)
This is a thread to discuss atheism related to gnosticism and agnosticism. Some atheists simply lack belief in gods, they do not claim to know if any gods exist (agnostics), others believe firmly no gods exist, they claim to know that gods cannot exist (gnostics).
I have a few questions I'd like to make to get started on this:
1 - Since we don't need to be 100% sure no god exists to be a gnostic atheist, how sure must we be? Is it reasonable to be a gnostic atheist? Has science disproved god or erased the possibility of god existing? Can we claim to have knowledge on gods not existing? Why?
2 - Is it possible to hold different positions according to the concrete god we're talking about? EG - In my case I'm an agnostic when it comes to the deistic god, but a gnostic (or at least I think so) when it comes to Zeus or Thor.
3 - Let's say I'm 95% sure no gods exist. Does that make me a 5% agnostic and a 95% gnostic?
4 - Would you generally describe yourself as an agnostic atheist or gnostic atheist (personal question, answer is optional)?
Also why are most theists gnostics? Why the hell to they claim to have knowledge on something that has no evidence?
There is no evidence for unicorns and most people will generally claim to know unicorns don't exist, since the possibility is unlikely and illogical. Could we apply the same to the god hypothesis and dismiss it on the basis that since there is no evidence (just like it happens with bigfoot, dragons, unicorns, etc.) god can't exist just like unicorns or dragons can't exist (unless evidence is presented on the contrary)?
I have a few questions I'd like to make to get started on this:
1 - Since we don't need to be 100% sure no god exists to be a gnostic atheist, how sure must we be? Is it reasonable to be a gnostic atheist? Has science disproved god or erased the possibility of god existing? Can we claim to have knowledge on gods not existing? Why?
2 - Is it possible to hold different positions according to the concrete god we're talking about? EG - In my case I'm an agnostic when it comes to the deistic god, but a gnostic (or at least I think so) when it comes to Zeus or Thor.
3 - Let's say I'm 95% sure no gods exist. Does that make me a 5% agnostic and a 95% gnostic?
4 - Would you generally describe yourself as an agnostic atheist or gnostic atheist (personal question, answer is optional)?
Also why are most theists gnostics? Why the hell to they claim to have knowledge on something that has no evidence?
There is no evidence for unicorns and most people will generally claim to know unicorns don't exist, since the possibility is unlikely and illogical. Could we apply the same to the god hypothesis and dismiss it on the basis that since there is no evidence (just like it happens with bigfoot, dragons, unicorns, etc.) god can't exist just like unicorns or dragons can't exist (unless evidence is presented on the contrary)?
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you
