From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fraction of atheists and agnostics in different countries. The
values for China, Cuba, and North Korea must be viewed with
skepticism as comparatively little data is available in these
countries.
Agnostic atheism, also called atheistic
agnosticism, encompasses atheism and agnosticism. Agnostic atheists are
atheistic because they do not have belief in the existence of any
deity, and agnostic because they do not claim to know that a deity
does not exist. The agnostic atheist may be contrasted with the agnostic theist, who does believe that one
or more deities exist but does not claim to have knowledge of
such.
Individuals who identify as agnostic atheists may justify their
position by reference to epistemology, theory of justification or Occam's
razor.
History
One of the earliest definitions of agnostic atheism is that of
Robert Flint, in his Croall
Lecture of 1887–1888 (published in 1903 under the title
Agnosticism).
"The atheist may however be, and not unfrequently is, an
agnostic. There is an agnostic atheism or atheistic agnosticism,
and the combination of atheism with agnosticism which may be so
named is not an uncommon one."[1]
"If a man has failed to find any good reason for believing that
there is a God, it is perfectly natural and rational that he should
not believe that there is a God; and if so, he is an atheist... if
he goes farther, and, after an investigation into the nature and
reach of human knowledge, ending in the conclusion that the
existence of God is incapable of proof, cease to believe in it on
the ground that he cannot know it to be true, he is an agnostic and
also an atheist – an agnostic-atheist – an atheist because an
agnostic... while, then, it is erroneous to identify agnosticism
and atheism, it is equally erroneous so to separate them as if the
one were exclusive of the other..."[1]
References
- ^ a
b
Flint, Robert (1903). Agnosticism:
the Croall Lecture, 1887-1888. William Blackwood and Sons.
pp. 49–51.
Further
reading
- Martin, Michael. Theism. MSN Encarta, 2000. Microsoft
Corporation.
- Martin, Michael. Atheism: A Philosophical
Justification. Philadelphia: Temple UP, 1992. ISBN
0-87722-943-0
- Smith, George H. Atheism: The Case Against God. 1st
ed. Amherst: Prometheus Books, 1980. ISBN 0-87975-124-X
- Stein, Gordon. The Encyclopedia of Unbelief. Amherst:
Prometheus Books, 1985. ISBN 0-87975-307-2
External
links
Wikis
Quiz
Search
