Leyan

Atheism vs. Agnosticism

The topic of atheism vs. agnosticism came up during the orchestra retreat this weekend. Atheism is not the belief that there is no god! That would be dogmatic which is exactly opposite of what it is. When I got home, I had to look it up to make sure I wasn’t just going crazy. Here’s what about.com says about it:

Once it is understood that atheism is merely the absence of belief in any gods, it becomes evident that agnosticism is not, as many assume, a “third way” between atheism and theism. The presence of a belief in a god and the absence of a belief in a god exhaust all of the possibilities. Agnosticism is not about belief in god but about knowledge — it was coined originally to describe the position of a person who could not claim to know for sure if any gods exist or not.

Thus, it is clear that agnosticism is compatible with both theism and atheism. A person can believe in a god (theism) without claiming to know for sure if that god exists; the result is agnostic theism. On the other hand, a person can disbelieve in gods (atheism) without claiming to know for sure that no gods can or do exist; the result is agnostic atheism.