Introduction To Agnosticism

Agnosticism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to navigationJump to search
Not to be confused with Gnosticism.
"Agnostic" redirects here. For platform-agnostic data schemas and ontologies,
see Cross-platform software.
Part of a series on
Irreligion
show
Irreligion
show
Atheism
hide
Agnosticism
 Strong
 Weak
 Atheistic
 Theistic (Christian)
 Apatheism
 Ancient India
 Secular Buddhism
 List of agnostics
show
Deism
show
Nontheism
show
Naturalism
show
People
show
Books
show
List of irreligious organizations
show
Related topics
 Irreligion by country
 v
 t
 e
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or

the supernatural is unknown or unknowable.[1][2][3] Another definition provided is the view
that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient rational grounds to justify either
the belief that God exists or the belief that God does not exist." [2]
The English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley coined the word agnostic in 1869, and said
"It simply means that a man shall not say he knows or believes that which he has no
scientific grounds for professing to know or believe." Earlier thinkers, however, had
written works that promoted agnostic points of view, such as Sanjaya Belatthaputta, a
5th-century BCE Indian philosopher who expressed agnosticism about any afterlife;[4][5]
[6]
and Protagoras, a 5th-century BCE Greek philosopher who expressed agnosticism
about the existence of "the gods".[7][8][9]
Contents
 1Defining agnosticism
o 1.1Etymology
o 1.2Qualifying agnosticism
o 1.3Types
 2History
o 2.1Hindu philosophy
o 2.2Hume, Kant, and Kierkegaard
o 2.3United Kingdom
 2.3.1Charles Darwin
 2.3.2Thomas Henry Huxley
 2.3.3William Stewart Ross
 2.3.4Bertrand Russell
 2.3.5Leslie Weatherhead
o 2.4United States
 2.4.1Robert G. Ingersoll
 2.4.2Bernard Iddings Bell
 3Demographics
 4Criticism
o 4.1Theistic
 4.1.1Christian
o 4.2Atheistic
 5Ignosticism
 6See also
 7References
 8Further reading
 9External links
Defining agnosticism[edit]
Agnosticism is of the essence of science, whether ancient or modern. It simply means
that a man shall not say he knows or believes that which he has no scientific grounds
for professing to know or believe. Consequently, agnosticism puts aside not only the
greater part of popular theology, but also the greater part of anti-theology. On the whole,
the "bosh" of heterodoxy is more offensive to me than that of orthodoxy, because
heterodoxy professes to be guided by reason and science, and orthodoxy does not. [10]
— Thomas Henry Huxley

That which Agnostics deny and repudiate, as immoral, is the contrary doctrine, that
there are propositions which men ought to believe, without logically satisfactory
evidence; and that reprobation ought to attach to the profession of disbelief in such
inadequately supported propositions.[11]

Agnosticism, in fact, is not a creed, but a method, the essence of which lies in the
rigorous application of a single principle ... Positively the principle may be expressed: In
matters of the intellect, follow your reason as far as it will take you, without regard to any
other consideration. And negatively: In matters of the intellect do not pretend that
conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable. [12][13][14]

Being a scientist, above all else, Huxley presented agnosticism as a form of
demarcation. A hypothesis with no supporting, objective, testable evidence is not an
objective, scientific claim. As such, there would be no way to test said hypotheses,
leaving the results inconclusive. His agnosticism was not compatible with forming a
belief as to the truth, or falsehood, of the claim at hand. Karl Popper would also
describe himself as an agnostic.[15] According to philosopher William L. Rowe, in this
strict sense, agnosticism is the view that human reason is incapable of providing
sufficient rational grounds to justify either the belief that God exists or the belief that
God does not exist.[2]
George H. Smith, while admitting that the narrow definition of atheist was the common
usage definition of that word,[16] and admitting that the broad definition of agnostic was
the common usage definition of that word, [17] promoted broadening the definition of
atheist and narrowing the definition of agnostic. Smith rejects agnosticism as a third
alternative to theism and atheism and promotes terms such as agnostic atheism (the
view of those who do not hold a belief in the existence of any deity, but claim that the
existence of a deity is unknown or inherently unknowable) and agnostic theism (the
view of those who believe in the existence of a deity(s), but claim that the existence of a
deity is unknown or inherently unknowable). [18][19][20]
Etymology[edit]
Agnostic (from Ancient Greek ἀ- (a-) 'without', and γνῶσις (gnōsis) 'knowledge') was
used by Thomas Henry Huxley in a speech at a meeting of the Metaphysical Society in
1869 to describe his philosophy, which rejects all claims of spiritual or mystical
knowledge.[21][22]
Early Christian church leaders used the Greek word gnosis (knowledge) to describe
"spiritual knowledge". Agnosticism is not to be confused with religious views opposing
the ancient religious movement of Gnosticism in particular; Huxley used the term in a
broader, more abstract sense.[23] Huxley identified agnosticism not as a creed but rather
as a method of skeptical, evidence-based inquiry.[24]
The term Agnostic is also cognate with the Sanskrit word Ajñasi which translates literally
to "not knowable", and relates to the ancient Indian philosophical school of Ajñana,
which proposes that it is impossible to obtain knowledge of metaphysical nature or
ascertain the truth value of philosophical propositions; and even if knowledge was
possible, it is useless and disadvantageous for final salvation.
In recent years, scientific literature dealing with neuroscience and psychology has used
the word to mean "not knowable".[25] In technical and marketing literature, "agnostic" can
also mean independence from some parameters—for example, "platform agnostic"
(referring to cross-platform software)[26] or "hardware-agnostic".[27]

Introduction To Agnosticism

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Introduction To Agnosticism

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Introduction To Agnosticism

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Agnosticism

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Part of a series on

List of irreligious organizations

Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or

— Thomas Henry Huxley

— Thomas Henry Huxley

— Thomas Henry Huxley

You might also like